Knowing very little about it, would you??

[JohnR]

Knowing very little about it, are you generally in favor or against Saltwater Fishing Licenses?

I am going to do a couple basic polls - One now where there is little information available and several later as more information becomes available and after more meetings have been attended.

[Fishpart]

I am generally opposed to additional taxes disguised as license fees

[Tattoo]

Funny, that just crossed my mind.......Hard to say at the moment.


Example, I would pay 50 dollars in support of a saltwater license if I knew where the money was going..... Is it going to buy the DEM some new GMC Blazers?......... Is it going to clean up the Upper Bay ( anything past Barrington Beach is upper to me)?...... Is it going to prevent ARK bait from netting from Stone Bridge to the power plant? ......Maybe some stronger enforcement or the regs. How many 5 inch scup can you throw in that bucket buddy? Oh thats right, YOU DONT SPEAK ENGLISH!


........Or is it just another "hole" someone has created to give their neighbor a job?

[Mike P]

Having lived the first 28 years of my life in the Ocean State---I have no illusions about where the revenues generated by a license would go

Do they still have the politicians' wing at the ACI?

[eelman]

Mike is right on! All this is is a way to fatten the politicians pockets or get more disguised tax,con the public,pull a fast one,line the coffer's,pay for drug addicts rehab,build a monument,and genarally go everywhere else but back to the ocean. The fishing public will never know where the money is going ever! It will always be sidestepped,put off, not answered,unaccounted for etc..etc...etc...

This saltwater fishing license is the biggest snowjob/joke/idiotic/stupid proposall out there.Put it to rest and forget about it! It will never happen anyway,and if it does, no one should be jumping up and down over it, How would they ever in the universe enforce it? Are they going to find a surcaster at 2 am in the morning "breaking the law"? are the going to take nightly walks out to naps? How can they prove a guy is fishing? will it be illegall to walk on the beach with a rod? how can they prove what he was doing? what about catch and release? will that be legall? what exactly are they going to do with the money? stock 50lber's? put a few more rocks on the jetty's? shovel sh$t against the tide? clean up all the seaweed?


They certainly wont open up more access! you can bank on that! The private spots will still be private.The rich still control the politicians,always have,always will. the clowns will still be at all the well known watering holes, they may add more parking which would definatly make things better......ya-right.If anyone thinks that these law makers give a damn about some surfcaster's, think again, they could care less!

In plain english, The powers that be see the amount of money the generall public spends on recreational fishing, and have come up with a great way to cash in themselves.Simple as that.....

[bloocrab]

..Quote: #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&~

________________________________________________

In plain english, The powers that be see the amount of money the generall public spends on recreational fishing, and have come up with a great way to cash in themselves.Simple as that.....

________________________________________________


..AMEN!..

[Saltheart]

Yep , Bill summed it up good. Without a detailed planned for what will happen to the money , its just a big rip off. Tell me that 100% will go back into the resource and I'm all for the license.

Tell me that all license fees will be put into an account that cannot be touched except to buy coastal land as it becomes available.(Wouldn't it be great if all the fishing license money was sitting in an account right now so we could buy Quonsett and Rocky Point and make them public land.)

Tell me the money will be used to mark and maintain and publish the whereabouts of public rights of way to access the shore.

There are a lot of good things that could be done with the money. There are endless ways the money can be wasted in the general fund. Fishpart has it right. If you want to raise taxes , raise the taxes so i can vote you out next year. Don't pick my pocket by imposing fees.

So anyway , I guess I'm against a saltwater license unless the money is kept seperate to benefit the utilization of the resource by Joe Average Guy.

[AnthonyN]

#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& I agree with everything you say. But i think they will enforce it even if its a warning. If anything they will make more money off enforcing it than they will off the license itself!!! You figure they catch some guys fishing without a license so they give them a ticket for lets say 150 bucks. You can pay it or contest it in court. Now I know if it was me I would not want to lose a days pay to have to go to court and then not have the guarantee of winning. So lets say the judge sides with the DEM officer which will happen 90% of the time unless you have money to burn and get a laywer you are gonna pay through the nose! Now i know i would not risk that i would just pay the fine.

Heres the break down of what i was talking about.

Guy number 1 pays the fine $150 out of pocket.

Guy number 2 decides to fight it.
$100 for missing work than after the hearing he pleades not guilty than the judge brings it to trial thats another missed day add another $100 The officer is summoned to court so if you lose you have to pay hissalary for showing up for court add at least $25 than the judge sides with the officer (that is what WILL happen) you are ordered to pay the fine and court costs there $90 never mind the parking fee in providence $5 and gas another $5 to $10 so the grand total will be about $400 if you decide to fight it.

If you win you still lost 2 days out of work and all the hassel so figure $200 lost from the 2 days you took out. It was cheaper just to pay the fine!!!!!!!!!!

This is just a scenerio that i thought i should bring to your attention These figures are fictional and may not be relevant to you it may cost you more money or less. The fines are not actual either but I think thats what a freshwater violation costs but i am not sure.

So in the end people will be caught and most likely won't bother to fight it unless they are 100% sure they will win. The money will just add to the RI bank account.

I don't know about you guys but atleast 5 times during the season I have a DEM officer come up to me and say hello and ask what I am catching so it will be only a matter of time b4 your caught.

But as #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& says there not a chance in hell of that SW license of passing. So there is really nothing to worry about.

[bassmaster]

NO

[chris L]

its political robbery . Just like all the other fees they collect for this or that . I pay for a work licence ( T2 low voltage license ), freshwater licence ( also various states ), gun permit , driver license isnt that enough political robbery for one person ? Man they just want more and give us butkiss ? you pay for access to the shore in most states during the season ie: state parks and some town beaches .
#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& hit it right on the head ! youll never see this money help in any way .

[Tattoo]

So what do we do about all the people filling there five gallon buckets with 5 inch scup and 18 inch bass that DONT SPEAK ENGLISH!?

[AnthonyN]

They do get caught eventually mulitple times actually they just don't learn. To stop them all you need is some 60lb test with a bunch of snaggers and cast over there line yank there pole in the water and cut your line and say SORRY If they look like they can kick your a$$ just throw rocks in the water or steal there tackle box or you can call DEM and watch as they show up 4 hours later

I was really just kidding about all that theres really nothing you can do except call DEM and hope they show up before they leave

[Slipknot]

Originally posted by Tattoo
So what do we do about all the people filling there five gallon buckets with 5 inch scup and 18 inch bass that DONT SPEAK ENGLISH!?

I don't know, maybe try to educate them. If that doesn't work call the cops and tell them they have a knife.

[Tattoo]

ok.....so we call the cops, but the still poach our fish! COPS DO NOTHING!

[AnthonyN]

Hey slip thats a great idea!!! Wish i thought of it

[Slipknot]

Then push them in the water when they bend over to take another short.


did I say that?

[TheSpecialist]

A bunch of foreigners were caught off of Nahant with a boat load or two of undersized cod last week. They were all arrested, and fined.

No to the liscence.

[AnthonyN]

Slip your full of good ideas today, your on the ball!!
Keep up the good work!

[JohnR]

You are probably right Bill and if that's what happens, we'll need to make even more of a stink about it... But as far as who would enforce checking licenses? Well, they probably wouldn't hire any more people but would shift the focus of the few DEM people there are to checking licenses & fining "violators" instead of trying to do the job they are already way undermanned for...

Slip, you OK?

[Crafty Angler]

I don't think we really need the state government to take away a right and sell it back to us as a privilege.

Regardless of what we'll be promised, I think enough of us have seen what has happened in this state to allow that to happen. As a third generation Rhode Islander, it's a real old story.

IF the money was used - and fully accounted for - to improve and protect the resource I don't think very many of us would object. However, I think most of us have the gut feeling that the funds would end up being siphoned off elsewhere and the initial promises would end up never being fulfilled.

And in my own experience, the only time you're ever gonna get yourself in trouble is when you let someone talk you out of what your guts are trying to tell ya.

[Saltheart]

What do we do about the guys who take undersize fish who do speak english?

I don't know why people say it has no chance of passing. We don't get to vote on it. I think the fix is in and we are getting a license , like it or not. (Hey bubba , we need that fishing license money to support graffitti removal from state buildings. I appointed you to this committee and I'm expecting you to support this fishy licensing scam. Can I count on you bubba?)

[bloocrab]

...ACTUAL SITUATION:

..A small bridge in my town, 2 foreigners on top of bridge, two foreigners on shore near bottom of bridge....the two on top get fish on...walk over to the side of the bridge..and claim that they lost the fish...( while the other two foreigners on the shore SECRETLY unhook and "glad-bag" the fish that the bridge guys caught )..a couple of hours later...the two on the bridge wave goodbye... smiling...they head to the parking lot drive back over bridge ...but stop at the top...suddenly the two from shore appear with a couple of " FULL GLAD BAGS " and hop in the back and squeal away....

..my point is if they didn't know it was wrong, why act like lawbreakers ??...and its just not foreigners doing this...but the majority that I've seen, just happen to have been.

..I've seen too many breaks given to people uneducated or " ignorant " as I see it..from the DEM...

..Why not increase the fines to amounts that would seem insane, and enforce the policies with "no" breaks...MOST OF THESE LAW-BREAKERS ARE BAITFISHING...meaning they most likely visit a Bait & Tackle store...and the REGULATIONS are posted in all of the shops I've been in...

...I CARRY A CELLPHONE...AND CALL ME A " RAT " IF YOU LIKE...BUT THE DEM PHONE # IS IN MY PHONEBOOK...AND I HAVE USED IT... ( after telling the guilty party that their fish were "illegal"...and having them tell me not to worry " ...

" RING RING !! "

[bloocrab]

..oh and BM's vote don't count...


...HE DON'T FISH RI WATERS...

[JohnR]

..oh and BM's vote don't count...


...HE DON'T FISH RI WATERS...

...but he lifts plugs from Rhode Islanders and that's worse

Interesting scenario the Bloo... I've been in similar situations but where it was just me fishing the "Toilet" surounded by 4 mildly armed but semi-intelligent accented anglers, I really did not have the mojo to object. In addition to taking more than a few short fish, these "anglers" were taking them during last year's closed season and I'm sure they knew it was illegal...

So what's the DEM's enforcement # again?

[Tattoo]

Bloo....you mean the bridge that opens up to let the boat go by????

....any good fish taken from there...looks like there are some nice rips down there.....but how do you climb through all the TRASH!

[Bob Senior]

NO License!

If they don't enforce the fishing laws and limits that are on the books now, why would there be any reason to believe they'd enforce the licensing law?

Coolers full of undersized scup and hundreds of baby blues being hauled away by people who don't speak English come to mind.

If you're a RI fisherperson, what has the State of RI done to improve, facilitate, protect, or enhance YOUR saltwater fishing experience up until now?

[flatts1]

No saltwater fishing tax.

How can it be anything more than a mony grab. Please!!

SaltHeart nailed it. It isn't a question "if" but "when".

Even if all of the well intentioned polititions agree that the money will go to fishing related endeavors today, there is nothing keeping the next legislature (voted in every 2 years) from doing whatever they want with the funds. The $50 (or more - who knows) you thought was going to add more parking spaces at the boat ramp will inevitably end up in the hands of some welfare mother in Woonsocket.

I say that this is a done deal because not only does the RI public not have a vote but even if they did, only 44% of those who fish in RI are residents. The other 66% of us will never have a say.

I'll tell you what though. I WILL vote with my check book and I will not buy a RI license. Unfortunately, this also means that I will not patronize any RI tackle shops or gas stations or restaurants or hotels. I like fishing the Warwick area with my father in law who keeps his boat there but I will be just as happy to keep my fishing related dollars in Mass or Maine where they don't charge me for a resource thet they don't even manage anyway (how can one state manage a migrating stock).

Now that I think of it, I don't even think my father in law (Mass resident) knows about this proposal yet. Spring for him usually means time to put the boat in and start fishing. This year he will be introduced to the joy of "springing" for a fishing license for him, his wife, and their 16 year old son.

Sorry for venting but I really hope this doesn't go through and I hope it never rears its head again.

Mike

[redcrbbr]

No, just don't like the idea. I am however curious as to how much of the funds taken in by the sale of the sweetwater licenses are kept on target. Every spring i see truck loads of trout and salmon getting dumped into Stafford pond in Tiverton. (If i'm not mistaken didn't they shut down stafford pond because of security reasons). I suppose we could look at the past record of how well the state has managed the funds raised from the selling of freshwater, hunting, and trapping licenses. How much of the revenue was actually applied to the intended target. Even if the state has been honorable and honest i still say NO to the saltwater fishing license.

[Tattoo]

Why the heck did they shut down Stafford? What are they afraid of? Someone blowing up the pump house? How long ago did you here that Red?

[LINESIDES]

I guess that settles it. All of the above, if read by the people that vote this sort of thing into law.
Would look at these comments and say, well it looks “overwhelmingly in our favor” These people would love to be taxed again! But before we due this lets give our selves a raise, for coming up with this “Original idea.”
Let me think about this for a millisecond. Hmmmmm! What say I?

No! Ahh, Wait a minute. No!

P.s. Tattoo, put Baking Soda in Da Waders, This will eliminate Da stink. Unless you like them like that. It does have its advantages.