National Saltwater Registry and Fishing License

[bunkerjoe4]

The Toyota Saltwater Expo opens today from noon to 8 p.m. at the Garden State Center at Somerset (Exit 10 off Interstate 287), and continues through Sunday.

Not quite so pleasing, but very important, is today's 2 p.m. panel discussion: "Are you satisfied with your angling data?" This involves the upcoming national registry of saltwater fishermen.

The details of that program will come out in the presentation by Gordon Colvin, the former New York Marine District chief who's now working for NOAA Fisheries on the registration initiative that may well virtually force New Jersey to adopt a saltwater license. The panel will be presented again tomorrow at 11:45 a.m.




Folks - I fear we are a short time away from national saltwater license for all fishermen. There are solid arguments from each side why this is or isn't necessary. However, the ball has started rolling and politicians are involved. Whether you agree with it in principle or not, it won't pay to ignore it and hope it will go away.

We as fishermen are responsible for learning what goes on around us. True, there are times when many of us, myself included, feel powerless to do anything about current legislative events involving fishermen. Sometimes we say "Oh what's the use! OR "Even if I get involved, it really won't matter anyway."

Sometimes it feels like everything involving fishermen's rights is an uphill battle, but doing nothing about your concerns means there is no battle at all -- we concede defeat by our apathy sometimes.

So I am asking all fishermen out there, whether you are a member here or not, to get involved, and learn about these things. Our rights are being eroded every day. A few minutes of your day learning makes you a more valuable constituent to the politicians.

Once we become more informed, we can make better decisions. Thank you all - bunkerjoe

[njdiver]

The 26th Annual Garden State Outdoor Sportmen's & Adventure Show
is coming to the convention center in Edison this weekend, Jan 8-11.


Program Schedule

The Division of Fish and Wildlife is sponsoring two seminars at the Garden State Outdoor Sportsmen's Show this year. Show visitors are invited to attend these seminars as well as the Deer Classic awards ceremony. Seminars will be held in the main seminar room at the show, while the awards ceremony will be held in the Division's main display room.


Sunday, January 11 at 11:00 AM

"The National Saltwater Angler Registry And What it Means For New Jersey"

Effective January 1, 2009 registration of all saltwater anglers fishing in federal waters or fishing for anadromous species will be mandatory. The federal program proposes to exempt anglers from federal registration provided their home state has a registration or licensing system for saltwater anglers that meets the criteria of the federal program.

[hookset]

Sorry I missed that one. Did anyone go? What did they have to say about the registry and NJ?

[voyager35]

The latest I heard was that the federal registry was pushed back to 2010, now it's supposedly 2011. This gives NJ a chance to put their own program in place, and we will keep more of the registration money.

[plugcrazy]

Do you really think that the funds from the State instituted license will go back into enhancing recreational fishing in our state?

NJ is having financial trouble and I have trouble believing that they would actually use the money were it is slated to go.

[voyager35]

EDITORIAL
A Fishermen’s Phone Book
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Published: June 28, 2009
Your mother was wrong: There are not, as far as we can tell, plenty of fish in the sea. At least not at the levels needed to sustain commercial and recreational fisheries of certain species. But how many fish are there, anyway? And how is fishing affecting their numbers? A new National Saltwater Angler Registry aims to help answer those questions.

Come January, saltwater sport fishermen will be required to give the National Marine Fisheries Service their name, address and phone number so they can be interviewed. The registry will replace a creaky system that relies on, among other things, random-digit phone surveys, with researchers asking whoever answers whether anyone there fished and what was caught.

Signing up is mandatory and free until 2011, and $15 to $25 after that. You’re exempt if your state already has a saltwater fishing license program that collects the pertinent data. In New York, a new license becomes mandatory in October. New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine have not yet gotten with the program.

Saltwater licenses are old hat on the West Coast and in the gulf states. Although most fishermen here in the Northeast recognize the need for rules and responsible behavior to protect a threatened resource, many are also reluctant to start paying for something that’s been free forever. And there are, of course, those who defend as God-given their right to “harvest” a crop they did nothing to sow. New York’s license and fees ($10 a year for residents; $150 for a lifetime) will take some getting used to, but they are reasonable and necessary.

We’re siding with this guy, who recently posted on a popular Internet fishing discussion group: “I think making people pay for a license invests them in the process, and perhaps will make folks begin to think before deciding to fill up a bucket with schoolie stripers” — that is, undersized, illegal striped bass — “or short fluke because ‘I only fish once or twice a year.’ ”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/op...stry%20&st=cse

[buckethead]

Here it is in PDF form. Pretty boring, but worth a read.


http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bi...00/3252_S1.PDF

[njdiver]

Here are the URLs for the legislation pending and signed from Maine to New Jersey:

Maine:
http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/bills_124th/billtexts/SP051601.asp
http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/bills_124th/billtexts/HP093501.asp


New Hampshire:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2009/HB0481.html


Massachusetts:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/186/ht00pdf/ht00797.pdf


Rhode Island:
http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/billtext09/housetext09/h6226.htm


Connecticut:
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2009/ACT/PA/2009PA-00173-R00HB-05875-PA.htm


New York:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=S00059&sh=t


New Jersey:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/A3500/3252_I1.HTM
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/S2500/2194_I1.HTM

[VSdreams]

Nice work, NJdiver! It makes it a lot easier to read them together like that. Thanks for posting.

[bababooey]

Thanks for sharing, NJD.

[njdiver]

Your both welcome. I have been keeping the committee members involved in this issue apprised of other States' efforts.

[njdiver]

Maine: Legislative session closed all pending Bills tabled.


New Hampshire: Signed into law.


Massachusetts: Reffered to committee, new legislation pending.


Rhode Island: Passed both Houses with ammendments, refferred to committee.


Connecticut: Signed into law.


New York: Signed into law.


New Jersey: Held in Appropriations Committee.

[fishinmission78]

New Jersey: Held in Appropriations Committee.

What's the hold-up in NJ? Special interest business as usual?

[plugginpete]

I hope some of the reciprocal agreements they are talking about are honored. I would hate like heck to have to buy 5 licences to fish 5 states.

[njdiver]

What's the hold-up in NJ? Special interest business as usual?

Rumor has it that the Assembly Appropriations Committee will not consider any "non-funded mandates".

[njdiver]

I hope some of the reciprocal agreements they are talking about are honored. I would hate like heck to have to buy 5 licences to fish 5 states.

S2194 and A3252 are to establish a free registry not a license. No reciprocity.

[DarkSkies]

Rumor has it that the Assembly Appropriations Committee will not consider any "non-funded mandates".

NJDiver, is that descended from the Wallup-Breaux Act, where I believe you can't divert any funding from the original purpose it's mandated for? (Wallup Breaux restricted receipt accounting)

If so, that sounds like a good thing, keeping the funds/enforcement fines collected to be used for sportsmen and fishing interests. Is that the case here?

[njdiver]

NJDiver, is that descended from the Wallup-Breaux Act, where I believe you can't divert any funding from the original purpose it's mandated for? (Wallup Breaux restricted receipt accounting)

If so, that sounds like a good thing, keeping the funds/enforcement fines collected to be used for sportsmen and fishing interests. Is that the case here?

In NJ no, the legislation as presently written, is for a free registry with no fee. There is a coalition of groups in South Jersey that are looking into rewriting the withdrawn saltwater license legislation and another statewide group has a committee looking into funding alternatives other than a license.