If this goes into full effect and the DEC does not tell shops how to sell the licenses their site will crash. I bet they have no idea how many fisherman there are.
More towns join fight to stop new fishing license
October 14, 2009 By BILL BLEYER
More towns will join a legal effort by three East End municipalities to block a state saltwater fishing license program.
The development comes as a temporary ban obtained by the three East End towns has been extended.
Meanwhile, bait shop owners elsewhere on Long Island complain they can't get information on how to sell the documents.
The program took effect Oct. 1, but a day earlier the towns obtained an injunction temporarily stopping the Department of Environmental Conservation from implementing it within their waters.
A hearing on the litigation by Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island had been scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed until Oct. 22 at the state's request. So State Supreme Court Justice Patrick Sweeney in Central Islip continued the injunction until that date.
The towns argued the Colonial patents that created the municipalities give authority to regulate marine resources exclusively to town trustees.
Officials in Oyster Bay, Huntington, Smithtown and Brookhaven plan to join the suit, and Southold and Riverhead are considering it.
The state says it has sold 32,000 licenses.
But some bait shop owners say they have been unable to get information from the DEC to learn how to sell the licenses. The state is still setting up a system of approved vendors to complement its dedicated phone line and Web site through which fishermen can purchase the new $10 annual license.
Andy Gregory, owner of Captree Bait & Tackle Shop at Captree State Park, said he gets inquiries from customers every day but "we still can't sell it. They never got back to me on what I was supposed to do," he said of the DEC.
"It's a disaster for people who have no clue how to get it," added Robert Feuring, an owner of Sea Isle Custom Rod Builders in Freeport. "I've heard from customers that you can't get through on the phone line and the Web site was so hard to use you couldn't figure it out. People have told me they've tried to call the state for three hours and the line was busy. It's ridiculous," he said, adding that the DEC should have waited until Jan. 1 to require the new license.
DEC spokeswoman Lori Severino said the state has established 1,450 licensing agents at bait shops and other locations and is in the process of setting up 50 more to reach the 1,500 limit specified by its contract with Verizon, which is handling the processing.
She said 67 of the outlets are on Long Island and in New York City, and those areas will be a priority when allocating the remaining slots. She said the easiest way to obtain the licenses is online at www.dec.ny.gov.
The state has no idea how many more fishermen have yet to buy a license. Part of the rationale behind the system, required by federal law, is to calculate how many saltwater fishermen there are nationwide to better manage fishing quotas.
