
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 23, 1994                    TAG: 9406230473 
SECTION: LOCAL                     PAGE: B1    EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA  
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940623                                 LENGTH: WASHINGTON, N.C.

SALTWATER FISHING LICENSE MAY COST $5 PER WEEK

{LEAD} Saltwater anglers would have to pay at least $5 to fish in North Carolina's coastal waters under a new licensing proposal.

A draft of the proposed saltwater fishing license will get its review by the public later this summer when the study committee meets with leaders of the state's sports fishing groups.

{REST} The committee, comprised of coastal tourism groups, sports fishing interests and state fisheries regulators, approved Wednesday a draft of the general structure and fee schedule for the license.

Sports anglers would pay either $5 per week, $15 each year or $250 for a lifetime license in order to fish in the state's coastal waters. Owners of fishing piers and charter boats could exempt their patrons from the license if they buy licenses whose fees will be based on the length of the pier and the length of the boat.

Children under 16 and subsistence fishermen would not have to buy a license, and the elderly and the handicapped or disabled fisherman would pay a reduced one-time license fee.

The committee also agreed that at least 25 percent of the revenue from the saltwater fishing license sales go to law enforcement, 25 percent to marine fisheries research and 25 percent to fisheries enhancement projects. The remaining 25 percent would go to administration expenses, education and information programs and grants for programs and projects aimed at saltwater fishing.

The license faces several hurdles, including the scrutiny of the sports fishing community, before it can be enacted.

``There's adversity out there,'' said Damon Tatem, owner of a Nags Head tackle shop and a member of the license study committee. ``There's no doubt in my mind about that.''

Generally proponents of a saltwater fishing license for sports fishermen say the revenue from license sales could be used to better manage and conserve the state's sports fisheries. They also say that if North Carolina institutes a saltwater fishing license, the state will be eligible for a larger share of federal grant money for sports fisheries enhancement projects.

Opponents of the license fear that tourism along North Carolina's coast will drop if the state institutes a saltwater fishing license because fishermen will choose to vacation in states without such a license or where license fees are lower.

``You have to have the constituency want it,'' said Richen Brame, executive director of the N.C. Atlantic Coast Conservation Association, a sports fishing group based in Wilmington. ``And for that, the anglers have to see what the state will do with the licensing dollars.''

While North Carolina requires recreational anglers to be licensed to fish in its inland waters, it is one of the few states that do not require sports anglers to be licensed to fish in coastal waters.

Last year, the the Marine Fisheries Commission, at the request of the state legislature, appointed the committee to study a proposal for a saltwater fishing license. The Marine Fisheries Commission is scheduled to make its recommendations to the legislature early next year. by CNB