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Governor Donald L. Carcieri
Office of the Governor
State House, Room 115
Providence, RI 02903
You Honor,
I am writing to ask you to veto house bill 6419A. This bill, if enacted in its present form will have the effect of preventing Rhode Island anglers from participating in many high value multi state fishing tournaments.
I know you are a fisherman so let me explain. There are many multi-state fishing tournaments held up and down the coast during our fishing season. The general structure of these tournaments is that they are administered from a central location, all of which are located outside of Rhode Island. Fishermen can enter these tournaments by mail, over the Internet or by filling out the required forms at their local bait and tackle shops. These local bait and tackle shops also act as weigh-in stations for the potential winners. All of these tackle shops will call in a report of each day’s catch to the central location, which will keep a running tally of the leaders. At then end of the last day of fishing the weigh-in stations will call-in their reports and the central office will compile a list of tentative winners. This list is no final until the weigh-in stations have sent the paperwork (signed weigh-in slips) to the central office to certify the catches they have reported.
Almost all of these tournaments require that the winners, usually the first five top finishers, to take a polygraph test to confirm that the winning fish were caught in compliance with the tournament rules. This is where the problem with the bill arises. The bill would require the tournament sponsors to administer this polygraph test within hours of the end of fishing, at a location in Rhode Island.
The tournament organizers cannot possibly receive the certifications, from thousands of anglers and tackle shops spread among many states, and announce the winners within several hours of the close of the tournament. Therefore they cannot arrange to have a polygraph test administered within the state of Rhode Island within the time frame contained in the bill. Thus, if they cannot comply with the bill they will have no alternative but to exclude Rhode Island anglers from participation in the tournament. In addition to being unfair to Rhode Island anglers this bill will also deprive Rhode Island tackle shops of the additional revenue (bait and tackle sales) that these tournaments generate. In fact, in a state as small as ours some of this revenue will be shifted to bait and tackle shops in Connecticut and Massachusetts
While the General Assembly’s intention protect Rhode Island anglers from abuse in these tournaments is to be commended, the effect of this bill will be to prevent Rhode Islanders from competing in these tournaments and deprive bait and tackle shops of needed revenue.
Thank you
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