Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#3
posted to rec.boats
|
|||
|
|||
Salt water license looks to be a go...
On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:26:15 -0700 (PDT),
wrote: Wow, great article... But I was really hoping to hear your feelings on the issue.. You have seen fishing from all sides of the table.. I'm not strictly "opposed" to the whole idea of a salt water license - in fact, in a lot of ways, it makes a lot of sense to require one. What I'm opposed to is the typical hodge podge approach to the problem on the East Coast. The West Coast doesn't have the same "problems" because there are only three states in the CONUS and Alaska/HA as outriders not near any other state - it's an entirely different approach. On the East Coast you have fourteen states that all have an interest in the Atlantic/Continental Shelf fishery. If you look at this map... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:U...East_Coast.png you see gist of the East Coast problem - border states. In the area I fish, I can travel from CT waters through RI waters to NY waters in the space of, and I'm not kidding here, 100 feet. If you remember back when we launched out of Stonington, the second we left the launch ramp we were in RI - we launched in CT. That bit where we rounded Napatree Point, we were in CT - to the breakwater we were in RI and past the breakwater we were in NY. Remember when we traveled down to Race Rock and we could throw a rock at the Mystic Harbor? We were in NY. Each state has different regulations for their fishery. I can catch a legal fish in CT waters and be stopped by NY DEM and cited because the fish I'm carrying isn't fit their regulations. RI requires that the fish be whole and not filleted on board while CT and NY don't. And the various DEP/DEM organizations don't want to hear "I caught the fish in...". What NOAA is doing here is force those states that do not have a sal****er license to adopt one - which means, technically, that each state will have to adopt a separate licensing structure. If it follows the normal structure, there will be a resident license and a non-resident license. Which means, in theory, I'll have to obtain licenses for CT/RI/MA/NY/NJ (if I venture beyond the area of Montauk) which for four states will be twice what it costs a resident. In theory, it will cost $230 dollars (based on current licenses for fresh water) to obtain the licenses I will need to fish the waters I ply. That's the essential nature of my complaint - five separate licenses are too much - it's silly and it's plainly stupid. Add the licenses on top of the varying rules and regulations and it's a freakin' nightmare. What I want to see is a permanent Federal license system that supersedes state licenses for salt water - after all, the fisheries are basically managed through the Feds via the regional councils so it would make sense to have the Feds to the license procedures - after all, their the ones who want the data. Unfortunately, that's not how it's going to be. It's going to be a nightmare unless the states have some sort of reciprocity and that just isn't going to happen. The interesting part of this is that NOAA is pushing this onto recreational segement as the behest of the commercial interests. The commercial types claim that the rec segement is taking too much of the available stock and thus, ruining the commercial business side. The commercials want the rec quota lowered ever more than it is and this is somehow going to prove it. Right. And here's the other issue. Let's say that CT/RI/NY/MA don't enact a sal****er license and you have to get the NOAA license/permit. Nothing says that the NOAA license/permit is valid for anywhere other than the state in which you live. Which would seem to mean that if CT enacts the sal****er license and RI/NY don't, we cannot fish in NY or RI waters even though we have the NOAA license/permit because the license/permit is based on residency. This is going to be a nightmare. How much is it going to cost me?? In CT, probably $20 - which is what the freshwater license is. Out of state will be $40. |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Fresh water from salt water. | ASA | |||
Salt Water/Fresh Water | General | |||
Salt Water/Fresh Water | General | |||
Salt Water V. Fresh Water | General | |||
salt water use | General |