By Beth Daley
Globe Staff
The only thing anyone's ever needed to sportfish off New England's coast
is a rod, reel, and good luck.
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Now, the more than 2.5 million people who fish for fun here will
probably need a license.
The federal agency that manages fishing announced yesterday that it
intends to require most saltwater anglers to register before fishing
begins in 2009 and plans to start charging for the privilege by 2011.
Fishery officials have grown increasingly concerned about how many fish
the nation's recreational fishermen reel in from the ocean each year.
"This will lead to better stock assessments and more effective
regulations to rebuild and manage these valuable fish," said Jim
Balsiger, acting assistant administrator for the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service.
The rule will mean most fishermen - whether fishing from a dock, beach,
or a boat - will have to have a permit. State waters within 3 miles of
shore aren't normally covered by federal rules. But the new regulation
would apply to fishermen who might catch any species that travels
between fresh and saltwater, such as striped bass, one of the most
popular New England sportfish.
Although licensing fees will probably not be more than $25 a year,
Northeast fishermen say they shouldn't have to pay for the pleasure of
pursuing a beloved, centuries-old pastime. So deep-seated is the belief
that recreational fishing in the ocean should be free, it's partly why
attempts by Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, and Connecticut to
require saltwater sportfishing licensing in recent years have failed.
The resistance is largely a Northeast phenomenon. Of the 23 coastal
states, only the seven stretching from Maine to New Jersey, plus Hawaii,
do not require licenses for saltwater recreational fishing. Virtually
every state, including Massachusetts, has licensing programs for
freshwater fishing. But most freshwater fishermen believe they are
paying for the state's trout stocking programs, said Kevin Blinkoff,
editor of the Falmouth-based fishing magazine On The Water, who has been
covering the issue. Saltwater fishermen may not see a similar direct
benefit.
"A lot of locals have been fishing since 1941, and now they have to pay
for a license?" said Richard Generazio of Falmouth Bait and Tackle Co.
He said that fishermen are not opposed to better data collection, but
that businesses such as his will suffer because tourists may initially
balk at paying a fee to fish for a day or two.
Federal officials estimate that the nation's more than 14 million
saltwater sportfishermen catch 257 million pounds of fish a year - a
minuscule amount compared with commercial fishing's 9.4 billion pounds -
yet their proportion of the nation's total fishing catch is growing as
commercial fishing becomes more restricted. While saltwater
sportfishermen do have some restrictions on the size and number of fish
they can catch, commercial fishermen have bitterly complained to fishing
managers that sportfishermen face little enforcement and monitoring and
could be catching more than they should.
Fishery managers acknowledge that their estimates of sportfishing
catches could be wildly wrong. For 28 years, they have relied on an
annual survey that randomly asks residents of coastal counties whether
they fish and, if so, how many fish they catch each year. The survey
also is conducted at public docks. But residents who have only
cellphones are missed, as are those who fish from private docks or who
come to shore at night. Federal officials suspect they are
underestimating the catch in some places but say they could be
overestimating it in others. Better data collection could mean more
restrictions in some fisheries and a loosening of them in others.
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The new program, part of the 2007 reauthorization of the nation's
federal fisheries law, should result in a more accurate survey,
officials said. The licensing requirement will not affect charter boat
tourists, whose catches are already counted under a different program.
The NOAA Fisheries Service wants states to do most of the work in
issuing licenses and collecting money. As an incentive, states that do
so will be able to keep the fees. Mary Griffin, Massachusetts Department
of Fish and Game commissioner, said the state is considering doing just
that for the estimated 1.2 million people who saltwater fish here each year.
"We are reaching out to fishing recreation groups to get their input on
what the state's options are," Griffin said.
NOAA officials are expected to come up with a penalty system when the
final rule comes out in November. Registration could possibly take place
online, officials said. Federal and state officials said any
registration program would probably be enforced by the US Coast Guard,
state environmental police, and federal fishery enforcement officers.
The federal government is soliciting public comments through Aug. 11 on
the registry program. For more information go to
www.countmyfish.noaa.gov.
Federal officials said that anglers under the age of 16 would be exempt
from registering, and that fees would be waived for indigenous people,
such as Native Americans.
Blinkoff said the new registration could result in more political clout
for recreational saltwater fishermen because federal officials will have
a better idea of not only what they catch, but probably how many people
are fishing and what they are spending to do so.
Yet fishermen stressed yesterday that their main concern was the fee.
Some said they wouldn't mind paying if they could be sure it would go to
support saltwater fisheries, but some states' proposals in the past had
money going to the state's general fund.
"The way it stands right now we have no problem with it, but people are
already grumbling about the money," said Stephen Medeiros, president of
the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association. He also expressed
concern that people who need to fish to supply food for their families
will not be able to pay any licensing fee.
"It's going to take away from the sport," he said.
Beth Daley can be reached at
bdaley@globe.com.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
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