12/3/09 Thursday vote on free angler registry in Trenton

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This is important folks, and the first time for something like this. Try to be there if you can take the day off.






http://www.nj.com/shore/blogs/fishin..._angler_r.html

Thursday vote on free angler registry in Trenton

By Al Ristori

December 02, 2009, 10:22AM

The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) urges anglers to turn out for tomorrow's free angler registry debate:

On Thursday, December 3 at 10 a.m., the New Jersey Senate Environment Committee will meet in Room 10 on the third floor of the State House Annex in

[Frankiesurf]

Why would they even need a meeting? The alternatives are either pay the state for a license or pay the Feds (in 2011) for a registry.

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Government canceled it maybe next session

[hookset]

Free registry bill stalls in senate


December 4, 2009

Free registry bill stalls in senate

By KIRK MOORE
STAFF WRITER

A bill to create a free saltwater recreational fishing registry is held up in the state Senate Environment Committee, where chairman Sen. Bob Smith, D-Middlesex, says advocates for the fishing community must agree on some kind of fee structure to help the state Division of Fish and Wildlife run the system.

"We are the Chapter 11 state. We are as broke as you can get," Smith told fellow Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-NJ, who sponsors the registry bill S-2194. "I can't release a bill in good conscience that doesn't cover our costs."

New Jersey and other coastal states are under a federal mandate to sign up anglers in registry databases, to be used for polling so fisheries managers can get more accurate data about how many fish are caught annually. For states without registries, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be running registries by 2011 and likely charging fishermen $15 to $30 a year, Smith said.

Van Drew advocates creating a no-fee New Jersey registry, arguing it will help make the Jersey Shore more competitive as a fishing and tourism destination. Collecting money from anglers would only tempt state government to tap the fund for other purposes, and "there's absolutely no reason to believe those dollars would be used only for science, only for the benefit of fishermen," Van Drew said.

The question has split the recreational community too, with some groups like the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs supporting a paid registry, and the Recreational Fishing Alliance and United Boatmen opposing it.

"This is a registry, not a license," said James Donofio of the RFA, who advocates an online registry outside the state permit system.

Some fee advocates think recreational funding will give anglers more influence over fisheries management. "That is the motivation they've clearly expressed," said Ray Bogan of United Boatmen. Bogan says the party and charter boat captains worry that a paid registry will deter people from fishing in New Jersey, with consequences for the state's allocation of summer flounder and other species.

Smith suggested imposing a $2 registration fee on fishermen, the minimum that fish and wildlife Director David Chanda says is needed to process the angler registry through the department's permit system. But Van Drew insisted saltwater fishing should remain untaxed.

"I will buy everyone in this room dinner if that $2 fee doesn't increase to $5, to $10, to $20, to $30," Van Drew told the crowd of fishermen and lobbyists in the State House Annex meeting room. He maintains that a fund for a saltwater registry would inevitably be raided by an executive branch and Legislature desperate to fund other programs.

Chanda said he's been talking about the registry for months with anglers. "They know the registry is coming, and they know it won't be pretty," he said of fees.

Of the division's $25 million budget, every account has been reduced except for hunting and fishing license fees, Chanda said. "That doesn't mean it couldn't be taken," Chanda added, but federal grant money is dependent on those funds, and so far, the prospect of losing that money has deterred state leaders from touching the license fund.

http://www.app.com/article/20091204/...alls+in+senate

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[Of the division's $25 million budget, every account has been reduced except for hunting and fishing license fees, Chanda said. "That doesn't mean it couldn't be taken," Chanda added, but federal grant money is dependent on those funds, and so far, the prospect of losing that money has deterred state leaders from touching the license fund.

http://www.app.com/article/20091204/...alls+in+senate[/QUOTE]


Looks like corzine robber from everywhere


They also let Fish and Game testify and put a hold on it just before the recreational sectors people who were asked to testify got a chanceto testify.