THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 4, 1994 TAG: 9408040589
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Despite some reservations about its implementation and how the money would be spent, several sports-fishing representatives said Wednesday they will support a plan to require a license to fish in the state's coastal waters.
Sports fishermen had their first chance to respond to a draft of the proposal and fee schedule for saltwater fishing licenses at a meeting of a committee studying the issue.
``It's a plan that's served us well in freshwater,'' said Frank Martin, president of the Wilson chapter of the Atlantic Coast Conservation Association, a group of sports fishermen.
Sports anglers would pay $5 per week, $15 a year or $250 for a lifetime to fish in coastal waters, under the plan.
Owners of fishing piers and charter boats could exempt their customers from the license if they buy fishing licenses based on the length of the pier or 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 fishermen would pay a reduced one-time license fee.
A $15 license fee paid by the state's estimated 600,000 sports fishermen could generate about $9 million in additional revenue for the Division of Marine Fisheries.
``That's more than the entire current budget for the division,'' said Michael K. Orbach, chairman of the committee.
Under the proposal, 25 percent of the revenue from the saltwater licenses would go to general law enforcement, 25 percent to marine fisheries research and 25 percent to fisheries enhancement projects.
The remaining 25 percent would be used for administrative expenses, information and education programs and grants for programs aimed at salt water fishing.
Tom Cimino, secretary of the Piedmont Offshore Sport Fishing Club in Winston-Salem and Greensboro, said the money would provide fisheries managers with additional data about the state's recreational fishing catch and provide ``money for stocking programs and hatcheries. It tickles me to death to pay for that.''
The proposal faces several hurdles, including additional scrutiny by the sports fishing community, before it becomes law.
The committee is scheduled to make recommendations to the Marine Fisheries Commission later this year, after a series of public meetings. The ultimate fate of the plan will be decided by the General Assembly.
The proposal faces vocal opponents who said Wednesday that to impose a license on saltwater sports fishermen would create an unneeded governmental bureaucracy.
``My contention is we don't need to have a license for recreational fishing,'' said Earl Dunn of the Cape Fear fishing club. ``We're only adding to the bureaucracy. We're not accomplishing any objective.''
Other opponents fear that tourism along North Carolina's coasts would drop, saying fishermen would vacation in states without such a license or where fees are lower.
While North Carolina requires recreational anglers to be licensed to fish in inland waters, it is one of the few states that do not require licenses to fish in coastal waters. Other states along the south Atlantic Coast charge from $5 to $12 for a saltwater fishing license. ILLUSTRATION: SALTWATER FISHING LICENSES
North Carolina is one of the few remaining states that does not
issue saltwater fishing licenses. Here's a look at the license fees
paid by sports fishermen in some states along the Atlantic Coast:
Florida, annual fee $12; Georgia, $8; Maryland, $7; South
Carolina, $5.50; Virginia, $7.50.
Source: N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.
KEYWORDS: FISHING
by CNB