Happy New Year - Get your %%#%^@ License

[stripermaineiac]

Hey John, Has anyone been able to get a straight answer out of any of these idiots yet or is this all a PETA deal to back door fishing restrictions makin answers impossible an fishing the same Ron

[Crafty Angler]

The following article appeared in Tom Meade's Outdoor Notes column in the Sunday ProJo a couple of weeks ago.

Quoted in the article is George Allen, a member and officer of our club, the Newport County Saltwater Fishing Club as well as RISAA and a member of the advisory boards of both ASMFC and RIMFC and George addressed this issue at our December meeting.

The way it stands now, RI fishermen who cross the border to fish will have to obtain a NONRESIDENT license from those states, which is $60 in CT, $15 in NY and as yet undetermined in MA, last I heard.

RI is under a Joint Enforcement Agreement with the Feds and has accepted grants and funding which will commit RI DEM EPO's to assisting in enforcement.

The USCG will be enforcing as well. If you fished BI by boat last year you undoubtedly saw the Coasties patrolling the Zone. If you were boarded for a boat safety check last season - or know someone who was - be sure you are carrying a license in 2010 if the USCG comes alongside and you have bass in your fishbox.

What could have been the best possible outcome of an attempt to gather information to give us better data on the real health of the SB fishery with a State license has been turned into something that is FUBAR by Governor Chooch using the Fisherman's Rights of the RI Constitution as the basis for his veto.

Those rights, first granted to the colonists of RI by King Charles in 1663 and the basis of that section of our state Constitution, guarantee ACCESS to the shore for fishermen, NOT freedom from regulation.

Way to go, Guv...



Outdoor Notes: Lack of saltwater fishing license to hurt R.I. anglers

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Members of Rhode Island’s largest recreational fishing group are expressing their disappointment over Gov. Carcieri’s killing a $7 saltwater fishing license.

Three members of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association — which represents 6,500 anglers — have written critical articles in the group’s most recent newsletter, edited by RISAA’s president, Steve Medeiros.

Medeiros was a key figure in drafting legislation that would have established a $7 annual license that would have been accepted in the waters of neighboring Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York — all of which will have their own saltwater licenses in place next season.

“I think most of us have heard the phrases ‘stabbed in the back,’ ‘blind-sided,’ or, as Steve Medeiros put it, ‘kicked in the gut,’ ” said George Allen, a longtime advocate for saltwater fisheries and chairman of RISAA’s legislative committee.”

During his second term, President George W. Bush, a recreational fisherman himself, signed federal legislation requiring fisheries managers to collect solid, scientific information about recreational fishing before regulators established new fishing rules. The National Marine Fisheries Service asked coastal states to establish angler registries so scientists could telephone anglers and speak to fishermen directly.

Coastal states that did not have saltwater fishing licenses established them. New York and the New England states agreed to honor one another’s licenses.

Now that Gov. Carcieri has vetoed a $7 state license, Rhode Island fishermen will have to obtain a federal license, but it will not be honored in neighboring states, said Mike Bucko, a Tiverton resident who owns a tackle store in Fall River. A member of RISAA and federal and local fishing-advisory groups, he said a Rhode Island fisherman who also fishes in neighboring states and New Hampshire will have to pay $115 or more for licenses beginning in 2011, when the federal government starts charging $15 to $20 for a federal permit.

Bucko said the governor’s veto “will also hurt Rhode Island tackle shops because confusion will turn a lot away from fishing.”

“Rhode Islanders and fishermen have not come out on top on this [issue],” said RISAA member Dave Monti. “I say the veto on the fishing license bill in Rhode Island was a bad decision.”

[Mike P]

Mike Bucko is just flat out wrong. All a RI resident will need to fish in CT or NY this year is a $15 NY non-resident license, because a CT license is good in NY, and a NY license is good in CT. Next year, you can buy a $10 non-resident Mass license and fish all over the Northeast, as every state will recognize a Mass license. It will NOT cost Rhody anglers $115 to fish in every state next year.

Buy a NY license online, and you're good for CT and you also will NOT have to register with the Feds. If they board you in RI, you show them a NY non-resident license and you're in compliance with the law even if you're not registered with the Feds.

Next year, if Gov. Chooch is still grandstanding, buy a Mass non-resident license. I understand that the fee is $10 across the board, resident and non-resident alike.

[Crafty Angler]

I dunno, Mike, reminds me of the Swede who comes to America and gets frustrated trying to learn English: "Yust when I learn to say yam they change it to yelly"...

I think I'm gonna need to put you on retainer if I ever leave little Rhody - which is starting to look less likely

Yeah, I remember the god old days back in 2009 when I could just get in my Jeep with my gear and fish anywhere I wanted to...

[piemma]

I just registered and it takes about 2 minutes and you can print your license card online.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by piemma

I just registered and it takes about 2 minutes and you can print your license card online.

Worked for you. Not accepting my zip code. I tried several different web browsers and the site is not accepting my zip code. Deselecting additional states did not make a difference. This was also happening early this morning when I wanted to see if it would work.
.

[texican]

Originally Posted by JohnR

Worked for you. Not accepting my zip code. I tried several different web browsers and the site is not accepting my zip code. Deselecting additional states did not make a difference. This was also happening early this morning when I wanted to see if it would work.
.

John,
Type in all zero's for your zip. When you submit it will correct itself and give you the right zip.

[Rockfish9]

Originally Posted by piemma

I just registered and it takes about 2 minutes and you can print your license card online.

I just did the same, even though I hold a pelagic tuna permit...pretty easy.

[PRBuzz]

Originally Posted by Rockfish9

I just did the same, even though I hold a pelagic tuna permit...pretty easy.

I've got both also! Did you get a confirmatory e-mail from the saltwater registry? I didn't but I printed out the registration card as proof.

[Finaddict]

Originally Posted by Mike P

Mike Bucko is just flat out wrong. All a RI resident will need to fish in CT or NY this year is a $15 NY non-resident license, because a CT license is good in NY, and a NY license is good in CT. Next year, you can buy a $10 non-resident Mass license and fish all over the Northeast, as every state will recognize a Mass license. It will NOT cost Rhody anglers $115 to fish in every state next year.

Buy a NY license online, and you're good for CT and you also will NOT have to register with the Feds. If they board you in RI, you show them a NY non-resident license and you're in compliance with the law even if you're not registered with the Feds.

Next year, if Gov. Chooch is still grandstanding, buy a Mass non-resident license. I understand that the fee is $10 across the board, resident and non-resident alike.

... So what you are saying for those of us up here in Mass, but we also like to fish RI/CT/NY ... that we get a CT nonresident license and then we are covered for those three states?

Reason I ask is that my parents live in Stonington, and for years I have fished the Watch Hill Reefs and Fisher's Island regions - in essence fishing three states by boat in a very short time frame ... although CT is way inside of the two in that area ... but it would be expensive to have to pay for more than one out of state license to fish there ... $60 for CT non-resident is expensive enough ...

[stcroixman]

Originally Posted by Mike P

Mike Bucko is just flat out wrong. All a RI resident will need to fish in CT or NY this year is a $15 NY non-resident license, because a CT license is good in NY, and a NY license is good in CT. Next year, you can buy a $10 non-resident Mass license and fish all over the Northeast, as every state will recognize a Mass license. It will NOT cost Rhody anglers $115 to fish in every state next year.

Buy a NY license online, and you're good for CT and you also will NOT have to register with the Feds. If they board you in RI, you show them a NY non-resident license and you're in compliance with the law even if you're not registered with the Feds.

Next year, if Gov. Chooch is still grandstanding, buy a Mass non-resident license. I understand that the fee is $10 across the board, resident and non-resident alike.

wrong. Reciprocity is granted to you in a non resident state only if you are licensed in your resident state. It works like the credit for taxes paid to another state.

You don't get to choose your resident state.

[striperswiper75]

Originally Posted by stcroixman

wrong. Reciprocity is granted to you in a non resident state only if you are licensed in your resident state. It works like the credit for taxes paid to another state.

You don't get to choose your resident state.

stcroixman, I was thinking about this myself. It would seem the intent of the reciprocity would only be granted if you are licensed in your home state; but I have not come across anything indicating that you have to be licensed in your home state to enjoy reciprocity. I live in CT and was going to bypass purchasing the CT resident license and purchase a NY Non-resident license to cover myself for NJ, NY, CT, RI and MA. Where are you finding information stating that you have to be licensed in your home state?

[stcroixman]

it's common sense first, but peruse any of the states laws that have passed.
You can't pick and choose and a Ct NR license is not going to get you NY reciprocity when you have a RI drivers License for an ID.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by stcroixman

wrong. Reciprocity is granted to you in a non resident state only if you are licensed in your resident state. It works like the credit for taxes paid to another state.

You don't get to choose your resident state.

Point me to the applicable language that says only a resident holding an out-of-state licese will be granted reciprocity.

From the CT DEP website:

What is a reciprocal license privilege? (Is there reciprocity with any other states?)

Connecticut law allows non-resident anglers who hold a marine waters fishing license in New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire or Maine to fish in the marine district and land marine fish in this state without a Connecticut license provided the state issuing the marine license affords the same privilege to resident Connecticut marine license holders.

From the language of the NH license bill--it's limited reciprocity but nothing in the legislation says you have to have a Mass or Maine resident license.


(c) A nonresident holding a valid recreational saltwater license or a for-hire charter or party boat saltwater license from Maine or Massachusetts, shall be allowed to take, possess, or transport finfish from New Hampshire coastal and estuarine waters, provided that the state in which such person purchased a recreational saltwater license or in which the for-hire vessel is registered allows an angler with a New Hampshire recreational saltwater license or a saltwater for-hire vessel with a for-hire license from New Hampshire to recreationally take, possess, or transport finfish in that state’s coastal and estuarine waters.