Thursday, January 21, 2010
Bill Cochran's Outdoors: Bill expands saltwater license requirements to deal with federal angler registry
Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.
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State Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk, is introducing a bill in the Virginia General Assembly that will save you money if you are a saltwater angler.
It stands to cost you money, too.
Northam is drafting legislation designed to bring Virginia into compliance with the new federally mandated National Saltwater Angler Registry.
Say you haven’t heard about the registry? Well, that appears to be the case for most Virginia anglers.
The registry was approved by Congress and became law Jan. 1. It is being operated by NOAA and requires virtually every saltwater recreational angler to register each year so federal authorities will have a comprehensive database of the names, dates of birth, addresses and phone numbers of participants.
This is designed to give federal officials a “phonebook” that can be used to contact anglers for information on the health of the fish stocks and on how much money anglers are contributing to the economy.
There is no cost to register this year. You just dial 888-674-7411 or register online at CountMyFish.noaa.gov. Might as well go ahead and do it, because it is the law and Northam’s counter legislation has a long road to travel.
Next year, things get a bit dicey. Congress gave NOAA authority to collect $15-$25 annually from registering anglers starting in 2011. That’s on top of your current license fees. The registry money is for administration purposes, with nothing for launching ramps, research, reefs, law enforcement and the like that comes out of your Virginia license money.
Northam’s idea is to allow anglers in Virginia to meet registration requirements through the purchase of a state saltwater fishing license rather than sending a fee to the feds.
His idea is a good one. But it has a downside. In order to make the purchase of a Virginia fishing license count for the registration requirements, virtually every angler 16 and older would be required to purchase a state license. That would mean:
- Seniors no longer would be exempt from purchasing a license. They would have to buy an annual $5 license.
- Anglers no longer could fish from piers or private shorelines without a license. They would have to buy a $12.50 license annually.
- The boat license that now covers everyone on a craft would be discontinued. Each person on a boat would be required to have his or her individual license. Only anglers aboard a party or charter boat would escape the license requirement.
These would be significant losses for many people, but when you add everything up it’s still a better deal than paying the feds as much as $25 per year, Northam said.
Even so, Northam isn’t all that happy with the arrangement.
“As an avid fisherman, I will be sad to see these exceptions go,” he said. “It is especially tough to lose the boat license, but the reality of the situation is that if we keep it everyone who fishes from my boat will have to pay more to the feds than they would for an individual license anyway.”
The nice thing about the pier exemption, it has allowed casual angers on vacation to fish without purchasing a license, and that has been a good recruitment tool for fishing, not to mention a tourist draw. Get them hooked on fishing and chances are they will become a license buyer. But if you require them to buy a license even before trying the sport they may move onto something else.
It is much the same for the boat license, which is ideal for boat owners who invite friends to fish with them. The friends fish without the bother or cost of getting a license, because the boat owner has purchased a license that covers everyone on board.
The registry has divided anglers. Some see the program as an enormous cost to fishermen with little benefit. They believe the federal govenment is already blotching the job by imposing unachievable requirements on state fishery managers. Some wonder if a private organization could collect data at a fraction of the cost.
Others believe the registry will help officials gather data to ensure a sustainable fishery built on the best available science.
Northam estimates the extra licenses sold in Virginia under his plan to comply with the registry could mean as much as $2 million in additional funds for Virginia saltwater projects. No question, the money from a state license would be better spent than the money sent to a federal registry.
