Friday, January 22, 2010
Saltwater anglers must now register
The NOAA Fisheries agency is seeking to improve information gathering for catches of several different saltwater species.
Photos by The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot
Virginia saltwater anglers like these will this year be required to register with NOAA Fisheries, which has launched a new system to better track recreational fishing pressure. Registering is free this year but will cost $15 to $25 starting in 2011.
Sara Page (left) has a striper on the line as mate Shawn Shapiro flips another striper into the fish box aboard the charter boat Gannet off of Virginia Beach.
Mark Taylor is outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times.
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VIRGINIA BEACH -- A new law requiring all saltwater anglers to register with NOAA Fisheries is in effect.
Anglers are required to sign up for the National Saltwater Angler Registry. The registry is free this year but will cost between $15 and $25 in 2011.
The reason for the registry, according to NOAA officials, is to improve information gathering for catches of many species.
NOAA often has been criticized for its catch data, which is used to determine quotas for various species. Such quotas, in turn, force states to set certain bag and size limits.
Using registry information, NOAA will perform random surveys of anglers to see how often they are fishing, what they are catching and how many fish they are catching.
The new registry hasn't come without confusion, though, because some anglers are required to sign up and other anglers are exempt.
"That's because of Virginia's blanket boat license," said Forbes Darby, a NOAA Fisheries communications specialist. "With Virginia, we're missing all of those anglers who might be fishing on somebody's boat and don't buy their own state license.
"For this to work, for us to be able to get all of the information we want to get out of this, we have to have everybody."
North Carolina does not have a blanket license for boats, which in Virginia allows non licensed anglers to fish on a boat where the owner has a special permit.
Darby said that Virginians who have North Carolina licenses don't have to register.
"We get information on anglers from state agencies, and once we have your information, we don't need you to register," he said.
Anglers from Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Virginia and the U.S. Virgin Islands are required to register. Anglers from Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas and Washington do not have to register.
Anglers who hold commercial licenses are not required to register, nor are anglers who have Highly Migratory Species Angling permits, those who fish on a licensed charter or head boat or are younger than 16.
"If you hold a license in one of the states where registering is not required but live and fish in a state where registering is required, you won't need to register," Darby said. "But we are asking that everybody register. That way we have the best numbers possible for anglers, and that will help us gather better information."
Jack Travelstead, chief of fisheries management for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, said the state is working on solutions that would alleviate Virginians from having to sign up.
One is to redesign Virginia's license set up, basically doing away with blanket licenses for boats and piers, and forcing anglers fishing from private shorelines to purchase licenses.
"If all of those people have to buy licenses, it could generate up to another $2 million for the agency," Travelstead said. "That would come from license sales and matching federal funds we get for each license purchased. There is a senator that is ready to introduce that option to the General Assembly when it starts the next session."
And that would actually save anglers money because a Virginia saltwater license currently costs only $12.50.
Another alternative would be to set up a free in-state registering program and have that information turned over to NOAA.
"It would be similar to a game department program where hunters have to sign up and report kills for migratory birds," Travelstead said. "But that program would cost about $450,000 to implement, and we don't have that much money in the license fund."
To sign up, call (888) 674-7411 or go to visit www.countmyfish.noaa.gov.
Anglers will have to provide their names, dates of birth, addresses and phone numbers. They will be given a number that will permit them to fish immediately. Anglers will receive a registration card in the mail about 30 days later.
