February 28, 2011 - New York State Sen. Lee M. Zeldin (R-Shirley) announced plans to repeal the state's controversial saltwater fishing license fee. Newsday reported Sunday that Zeldin's speech at the Suffolk County Boat and Sport Fishing Show this past weekend highlighted the senator's plan to replace the tax with a free online registration compliant with federal regulations.
"We shouldn't have to pay for an activity that generations have always enjoyed for free," said Zeldin, whom Newsday described as having "spent summers as a youth fishing on his father's boat in the Great South Bay."
New York's saltwater fishing user fee took effect in October 2009 and was initiated by act of legislation in part to collect the names and phone numbers of saltwater anglers in New York, a new federal requirement for data collection. Early last week, New Jersey governor Chris Christie signed a new angler registration system into law designed to meet these same federal requirements, one with no angler fee attached, something New York's sportfishing community wonders why it couldn't have been similarly accomplished.
"Anglers in New York are frustrated by the federal limitations on when and how we're allowed to fish, especially with regard to the draconian size and bag restrictions on fluke," said Jim Hutchinson, Jr., managing director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) and president of the New York Sportfishing Federation (NYSF). "It's hard to comprehend how a saltwater user fee was supposed to make everything better when regulations in New York are the worst on the Atlantic Coast and only getting worse."
John Mantione, owner of J&J Tackle in Patchogue and spokesman for the New York Fishing Tackle Trades Association (NYFTA) said the total economic impact of New York's marine recreational sportfishing community is estimated at more than $1 billion a year, contributing to between 6,000 and 10,000 jobs annually. "We applaud the Senator for recognizing the value of the recreational fishing industry. We have been overtaxed and under-recognized as a viable contributor to New York's economy for too long, and Sen. Zeldin seems ready to reverse this trend on behalf of his fellow fishermen," Mantione said.
Capt. Steve Witthuhn of Top Hook Charters in Montauk attended the news conference Saturday to show his support for the repeal and told Newsday that he had about $1,300 in saltwater fishing fees so far; charters pay $400 annually to cover their passengers. "If you take money from my industry, I'd like to see it put back into my industry," Witthuhn said, pointing out that fees used from license sales are being used to pay marine-related Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) salaries and expenses previously covered by the state's general fund.
"You feel like you're getting hit all of the time" by fees, said Fred Bothe, 39, of Babylon, who attended the boat show in Brentwood with his two young sons.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy called the tax "an insult," while Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) said at the news conference that he would sponsor a companion bill in the State Assembly.
"The enactment of a saltwater fishing license fee two years ago was just another ill-considered tax grab to deal with New York's budget problem. I voted 'no'," Assemblyman Thiele said at the event. "Now is the time to repeal the license and replace it with a free, annual registration requirement, similar to the one signed by Governor Christie in New Jersey earlier this week. By enacting our bill, New York will be saying 'yes' to jobs and the right to fish and 'no' to the policies of tax and spend," the assemblyman added.
"The saltwater fishing license was a bad idea and an unfair backdoor tax that should never have been imposed on us, and I'm proud to co-sponsor this bill to repeal it," said Assemblyman Dean Murray. "I want to thank Senator Zeldin for taking the initiative to lead the charge on this issue in the Senate, and Assemblyman Fred Thiele for sponsoring the legislation in the Assembly."
"For too many years, state budgets in New York lost touch with fiscal reality by spending and taxing way more than taxpayers could afford," Zeldin said in a February 19 Op-Ed piece in the Bayport-Bluepoint Patch, adding "The result is that we now have the worst business climate in the country."
"During my campaign, I made repeal of the saltwater fishing license fee one of my top priorities. Now in office, I have the opportunity to follow through on those campaign promises," Zeldin said on Saturday, adding "the saltwater fishing license fee places an added burden on our way of life here on Long Island."
Hutchinson called the saltwater fishing license a "broken law built on broken promises" and said NYFTA, RFA, and NYSF all supported Sen. Zeldin's legislation to create a 'no cost' saltwater angler registry program to replace the license. "We were told in 2009 that a user fee would not only to lead to more service, but that New York would also get additional federal funding through the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act which has turned out to be untrue," Hutchinson said. Also known as the Dingell-Johnson Act or Wallop-Breaux Act, the program provides Federal aid to the States for management and restoration of sportfish programs, with funds collected in an account known as the Sport Fish Restoration Account.
"These monies come from a 10% excise tax on all sportfishing equipment and marine fuel bought by anglers who've been led to believe that the more money our community pays through licensing, the more we'll get back from this federal tax. However, we're getting hundreds of thousands of dollars less in 2011 than we got in those years prior to a license," Hutchinson said.
Late last year, seven Long Island towns won a lawsuit against the DEC, which prevents the agency from requiring recreational anglers to obtain a state license to fish in town waters. According to the federal requirements however, anglers fishing town waters in those towns are still required to register federally with NOAA Fisheries, despite being absolved from paying the state fee. At a recent New York State Marine Resources Advisory Council meeting, the DEC said they would be enforcing the state fishing license throughout the marine district in 2011, although there's no word yet as to whether the state plans to appeal the court decision stopping them from enforcing licensing requirements in East Hampton, Southampton, Shelter Island, Brookhaven, Southold, Huntington and Oyster Bay.
"There currently is a permanent injunction in place prohibiting the license and fee from being implemented in these Towns," Thiele said. "Governor Cuomo, who refused to defend the law as Attorney General, has said repeatedly that we cannot resolve New York's fiscal problems with more taxes."
The license repeal legislation is expected to be posted in Albany this week, and once bill numbers are assigned for both the Senate and Assembly versions, the RFA will notify its members.
