Saltwater fishing license……Why or why not?

[numbskull]

Documenting the numbers of voters involved in recreational saltwater fishing will likely have a huge ancillary benefit.

[tattoobob]

The only problem I have is it's a big ocean and I fish NH, Mass, & RI
Does this mean I have to buy 3 states Licenses? if so I am against it.

If it does work for multiple states and the money goes to the right place and fund the sportsman funds then I will want it.

Just think of all the extra money made buy fining none license holders

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Documenting the numbers of voters involved in recreational saltwater fishing will likely have a huge ancillary benefit.

Exactly. People keep calling it "another tax" but it really isn't. Its ammunition for the recreational fishery. Its ammunition to eliminate habitat destruction and by catch in our waters too by commercial netters/draggers. It’s happened in other states like Florida and Texas already. Guess who the most outspoken opponents were to the license in those states? The commercials were due to the perceived threat (which later materialized into reality) to their livelihoods.
Bottom line is that it makes sense to support a license for our own good. What will happen is that eventually the federal registry will lead to a federal license for us. Our license dollars will go directly to the feds and never be seen again. Take this thing on a local level and keep the control on a local level with a state license. To me if you are a recreational fisherman and oppose a state license, you haven’t done your homework on the subject or you've been mislead.
Oh yeah, I'm not anti commercial, but the wrong gear usage in the wrong place at the wrong time is one of the things that needs to be addressed further. Look at our cod stocks, or what used to be cod stocks.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Documenting the numbers of voters involved in recreational saltwater fishing will likely have a huge ancillary benefit.

That's the biggest benefit to a license, and the one that 90% of the people don't realize

[piemma]

I realize that there is a fear of any regulatory body and a saltwater license in just one more example of Big Brother gaining another way to gain control. Never the less, it is coming and, if we are smart, we will have some say in how the resulting funds are used. The recreational fishing community has a lot of pull and can effect how the monies are allocated.

[wheresmy50]

Originally Posted by Mike P

That's the biggest benefit to a license, and the one that 90% of the people don't realize

I completely disagree that somehow licensing is going to make people realize how important saltwater surf fishermen are and we'll start getting more access (or whatever). No one cares about our pennies. They care about the influence of wealthy property owners.

Hunters pay for licenses and get treated like child molesters. If freshwater fishermen get anything, it's because of stocking and the gillions of dollars they spend on tackle. Also, anyone who thinks there's going to be one license in a state for fresh and salt or reciprocity has a lot more confidence in government than I do. They're going to have a separate license or a stamp, and each state will have their own. Then in a few years you'll need a separate striper stamp, then a fluke stamp, bonito stamp, albacore stamp, crab stamp, etc, etc, etc.

[Clogston29]

if there has to be one, i'd like to see a federal license. one that will apply to any state. the feds could divide the money derived from the licenses up between the states, based on the number of people living in each state that purchased a license.

if there is going to be one, I want to see some damn enforcement too. If I'm paying $x.xx for the right to fish for a year, its gonna piss me off when I'm walking out at dawn and see a bunch of guys fishing without licenses, knowing that they'll never get caught.