spectr17
07-12-2003, 10:09 PM
Jul. 09, 2003
N.C. House committee approves altered saltwater fishing license bill
GARY D. ROBERTSON, Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. - A House panel Wednesday backed the creation of a saltwater fishing license after its sponsors agreed to cut the proposed annual fee by a third and eliminate the exemption for anglers on piers and charter boats.
The House Finance Committee recommended the measure, which would generate millions of dollars annually toward efforts to better monitor and restore ailing fish stocks in coastal waters.
"It's about the numbers," said Rep. Pryor Gibson, D-Montgomery, a sponsor. "A fishing license with a database is the first requisite for good and sound fishing enhancement."
It's the third time since 1999 that the saltwater license idea has moved in the House, although it has yet to pass the Senate.
The latest version sets a one-year saltwater fishing license at $10, less than the $15 required for a recreational license in North Carolina freshwater streams and lakes. A 10-day permit could be bought for $5. People 62 and over and under 16 wouldn't need a license.
Also removed from the latest version is a provision requiring piers and charter boats to get blanket licenses for people who fish there. That would have eliminated the need for the occasional fishermen or a tourist to get a license for a couple hours of fishing; now those people would have to get licenses as well.
The House Environment and Natural Resources Committee recommended an earlier measure this spring. The changes were made in part to allay concerns of coastal legislators to get the bill through the House and over to the Senate this late in the session, Gibson said. House floor debate is next for the measure.
"We haven't finished with the bill," Gibson sad. "We'll address these issues."
Sport fishermen believe the bill would set aside more money to help the state manage stocks, as required by the federal government and bring North Carolina in line with other Southeastern states that already have such licenses. One-fourth of major coastal fish species were labeled as overfished in 2002, according to the Division of Marine Fisheries.
"If no action is taken soon, then you are going to see serious economic damage to commercial fishing in North Carolina and to tourism in North Carolina," Bill Brown with the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina said in written remarks.
The licenses will provide names and other information from anglers so the division can better contact them to determine how often they fish and what species they caught on the coast. The state now makes 25,000 random calls annually to determine fishing trends but may find only 500 people who actually fished.
"If we had a database, we could call 25,000 of them that are at least interested in saltwater fishing," DMF director Preston Pate said. "The accuracy of our information would be improved immeasurably."
The latest version also creates a new seven-member board that would disburse money generated from the saltwater licenses. Commercial fishermen, who already are licensed and oppose the measure, said the board's creation would create a new bureaucracy, while the license simply generates another tax on anglers.
"It's not a question of the money that's raised, it's a question of who controls it," said Jerry Schill, president of the 1,000-member North Carolina Fisheries Association. Any license proceeds should go to the state's general fund so the General Assembly can decide how to use them, he said.
The bill was approved after the panel rejected an amendment by Rep. Gene McCombs, R-Rowan, that would have made saltwater and freshwater fishing licenses interchangeable. Opponents said people would simply buy the cheaper saltwater license, making it difficult to get good information on saltwater trends.
N.C. House committee approves altered saltwater fishing license bill
GARY D. ROBERTSON, Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. - A House panel Wednesday backed the creation of a saltwater fishing license after its sponsors agreed to cut the proposed annual fee by a third and eliminate the exemption for anglers on piers and charter boats.
The House Finance Committee recommended the measure, which would generate millions of dollars annually toward efforts to better monitor and restore ailing fish stocks in coastal waters.
"It's about the numbers," said Rep. Pryor Gibson, D-Montgomery, a sponsor. "A fishing license with a database is the first requisite for good and sound fishing enhancement."
It's the third time since 1999 that the saltwater license idea has moved in the House, although it has yet to pass the Senate.
The latest version sets a one-year saltwater fishing license at $10, less than the $15 required for a recreational license in North Carolina freshwater streams and lakes. A 10-day permit could be bought for $5. People 62 and over and under 16 wouldn't need a license.
Also removed from the latest version is a provision requiring piers and charter boats to get blanket licenses for people who fish there. That would have eliminated the need for the occasional fishermen or a tourist to get a license for a couple hours of fishing; now those people would have to get licenses as well.
The House Environment and Natural Resources Committee recommended an earlier measure this spring. The changes were made in part to allay concerns of coastal legislators to get the bill through the House and over to the Senate this late in the session, Gibson said. House floor debate is next for the measure.
"We haven't finished with the bill," Gibson sad. "We'll address these issues."
Sport fishermen believe the bill would set aside more money to help the state manage stocks, as required by the federal government and bring North Carolina in line with other Southeastern states that already have such licenses. One-fourth of major coastal fish species were labeled as overfished in 2002, according to the Division of Marine Fisheries.
"If no action is taken soon, then you are going to see serious economic damage to commercial fishing in North Carolina and to tourism in North Carolina," Bill Brown with the Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina said in written remarks.
The licenses will provide names and other information from anglers so the division can better contact them to determine how often they fish and what species they caught on the coast. The state now makes 25,000 random calls annually to determine fishing trends but may find only 500 people who actually fished.
"If we had a database, we could call 25,000 of them that are at least interested in saltwater fishing," DMF director Preston Pate said. "The accuracy of our information would be improved immeasurably."
The latest version also creates a new seven-member board that would disburse money generated from the saltwater licenses. Commercial fishermen, who already are licensed and oppose the measure, said the board's creation would create a new bureaucracy, while the license simply generates another tax on anglers.
"It's not a question of the money that's raised, it's a question of who controls it," said Jerry Schill, president of the 1,000-member North Carolina Fisheries Association. Any license proceeds should go to the state's general fund so the General Assembly can decide how to use them, he said.
The bill was approved after the panel rejected an amendment by Rep. Gene McCombs, R-Rowan, that would have made saltwater and freshwater fishing licenses interchangeable. Opponents said people would simply buy the cheaper saltwater license, making it difficult to get good information on saltwater trends.