Quote:
Originally Posted by Flaptail
Do we really need it? Take for example the guy who comes down to the Cape for one week a year and traditionally would spend one or two evenings casting for Bluefish at West Dennis Beach with his children or buy a box of seaworms and sit with his son on the jetty at Menahaunt for one morning of thier vacation.
Should a license be required so the two of them could spend a little time together just sitting and talking about things a Dad and his kid speak of when alone and just enjoying something a bit different than life back in the city and it really doesn't matter what they catch?
Should they have to pay to enjoy that memory?
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Sadly, but truly, the answer is yes for several reasons................
The main conondrum facing our recreation/sport, as it moves forward, is what to do with the monies that licensing will produce? The fact that the feds won't stay out of this debate, and they will have their numbers ~one way or another~ alarms me more than just a little bit....................
That being said, if it truly is about finding out how many of us there are ~though we certainly suspect that it is much more than that, then why not put a box and a question on each IRS Form right next to the CREEP, Save a Tree, US Olympic Fund boxes that already litter those forms? I mean we ALL pay our taxes, right
???? Will such a method provide a national census of saltwater anglers? Yes.
Will it help with the vacationer's of Flaps above scenario? No.
For me to fish in FL, I must go to the local Bait shop/Wally world and purchase a non-resident rec license. It cost me $7.00 for three days access to ALL of Florida's salt last year!!! A mere pittance, imo! No snook stamp required, which I believe is still in the neighborhood of $25 anually for FL residents. I could have purchased a single day, seven day, etc. Not too much to pay and most reasonable considering the impact and pressure that non-resident anglers can apply to our local fisheries. Certain areas of FL get hammered by the "vacationing" fishing community just as hard as RI does; yet currently RI has no way to realize manageable impact dollars to help to off-set said impact. In my view this is what hurts the most.......................
People are going to impact the shoreline, the fishery, and the Bay/Ocean. The weekend warrior is responsible for pressuring our species and coasts in numerous ways, so I'll just take one of them, here. People are going to fish. People bring garbage with them ~stuff for them to feed their faces and "their" fishes with. And this is what damages our shores/oceans/fishery with stagerring frequence and detrimental consequence. We definitely need dollars for research and fisheries management and development related to fishing pressure from both ~resident and non-resident. So, let's use the 10% they already get. I am willing to pay between $5 and $15 to MA ~annually and reciprocally~ in order to help police and clean up our shores. A
small non-res of NE fee (sorry NY'ers and beyond, but hey iffin ya have a beef with it, step up to the plate and move to NE
) should also be required to generate funds that
could go to State Parks & Recreation budgets in the interests of shore access development/maintenance of both the old and some new facilities, alike. These funds
must be, BY LAW, untouchable and allocated strictly and solely for the enforcement and enrichment of the Recreational Experience. Simply put, without whom the monies would not be there in the first place. Hell, I'd even purchase a yearly Resident Striper Stamp ($20) if I knew that the funds were being managed effectively. $10 to the fishery/conservation/public education side of the coin and $10 to enforcement/access/maintenance part of the equation.
Wouldn't it be nice to see 55 gallon trash barrels, or even a freakin' dumpster that gets regular service at say the East Wall, WHLT, CTown, The Q, or WKPG Bways? I removed so much garbage from all of those places it was sickening last year. At 3 of the 4 I had nowhere to put the garbage??? I ended up schlepping it in my feeshmobile to the nearest dumpster or barrel, that wasn't very close
!! The Aves have trash barrels at least, and so aren't the beaches at Gansett and Scarbo set-up nicely. And this is why I think that we should beat the feds to the punch. Each state could collect a resaonable fee from their residents, reciprocate to the rest of NE, and go non-res license for everyone else, the key word being reasonable. Say, 3 bucks a day for the non-residents? This is some huge dollars, but AS LONG AS IT IS MANAGED PROPERLY, it could do us some real good.
As an example, FL has many State funded areas of access that are absolutely beautiful, well maintained and actually make one feel like much more than a third world citizen because one likes to fish. I am not saying that we'll get our Bass stands back (why not in your more general places?); but some of the State Parks in FL are well lit, provide ample parking, plenty of places to remove and place yer garbage (& heavy fines if you don't), places to leave a shat (and I doan mean porta-johns), boardwalks leading to the beach, playgrounds for kiddies, rinsing stations to remove sand and salt, and cafes even!!! Of course, none of the general public stuff would be available at night, but i cannot tell you how many times the porta-johns at singing beach have saved the night for this surfcaster
.
While this is only one possible positive result of a regular stream of revenue, surely by our concentrated efforts and the resourceful minds of NE we could at least equal this level of results ~dependent upon effective leadership and smart supervision of such a revenue resource.
Just some ideas gentlemen, for as certain as BIG Eeeeeels brang tha BIG Gurls ~change is coming. So, why not effect the change
ourselves on a local and regional level, restricting Big Brother to a tiny little box on the IRS forms and providing our own improvements designed to enhance the surfcasting experience? If done
properly each state could dramatically effect the business and enjoyment of recreational fishing.
Are any of us even remotely pleased with the mountain of issues we see going unadressed each year along our magnificent stretch of The Striper Coast? More importantly, these issues will not improve/go away by themselves, as each one requires FUNDING. How else are we to generate these funds? A donations box at our parking lots? How's about a yearly car wash and paper drive to increase revenue?
I'm joking, of course, but I will gladly buy two less plugs, purchase two less rounds of eeeeeeeels, or pass on a coupla less pkgs of pogies to contribute to strictly targeted dinero. Consequently, if we
see our licensing dollars at work, then won't we be more willing to comply and better able to pass our beloved sport and moonlit obsession on to our children and their children's children? One concern nags at me, though, does better access lead to undue pressure to our species and a possible return to the 80's?