NC rec SW license

[Steve Coleman]

Looks like it's a done deal, i'm sorry to say.

http://www.ncfisheries.net/license/SFL_FAQ.htm

[derf]

Looks like it's a done deal, i'm sorry to say.

yup done deal ......i gonna take a wait & see aditude
might do some good ; just can't tell unless it's in effect
derf

[Sand Van]

If it happens, I'm sure the other states will follow along. Very sad....

[feetinsand]

But a delay....from the Herald Sun:

By GARY D. ROBERTSON : Associated Press Writer
Nov 19, 2004 : 10:23 am ET

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The state could delay a required fishing license for recreational anglers at the coast until January 2007 if the suggestion of a state fisheries official gains support from lawmakers.

Preston Pate, director of the Division of Marine Fisheries, told a legislative committee Thursday he doesn't believe a recretational saltwater fishing license can be in place until then. When the Legislature passed the controversial measure in the waning hours of this year's session, they wanted the permit program underway Jan. 1, 2006.

Pate said there are too many loose ends in the legislation that have to be resolved. Blanket licenses for anglers on charter boats are needed and the $1 fee for short-term permits is too low to even pay for the permit paperwork, he said.

Many changes, including any delay on the permits, would require legislation during next year's session.

North Carolina has been the only state in the Southeast without a saltwater license.

"We're just going to need additional time," Pate said after the meeting of the Joint Legislative Commission on Seafood and Aquaculture. "I don't think we're going to be able to meet that."

Under the law signed by Gov. Mike Easley, a person fishing on the shoreline or in a boat would have to purchase the $15-a-year license. The measure also would apply to anyone collecting crabs, clams or shrimp. Anyone under 18 would be exempt.

Money generated from the license would go into a fund to pay for fisheries research, construction of artificial reefs or other marine projects. Regulators also could interview permit holders about what they catch.

Pate recommended to lawmakers raising a seven-day permit designed for vacationers to $5 while expanding the period to 10 or 14 days.

Charter boat captains, who take fishermen out on daylong excursions to the Atlantic, would prefer to pay for a license rather than have their passengers find one before entering the boat, according to a survey performed by the Division of Marine Fisheries.

Larry Coble, a charter captain from Southport, said many of his customers arrive Friday night for a Saturday morning trip and wouldn't have time to get a permit. They would be breaking the law if they caught a fish, he told the committee.

The division also will need more money to hire additional officers to enforce the new law, Pate said. The law states that permit revenues can't be used for enforcement.

Legislators also need to revisit the law because its language could lead the federal government to withhold millions of dollars in federal grants annually, according to Pate.

The state Wildlife Resources Commission, which already issues freshwater fishing permits, is also interested in creating a "unified fishing license" that would allow someone to fish in freshwater and saltwater with the same permit.

Commission executive director Richard Hamilton recommended the saltwater license requirement be delayed until July 2006 while the unified permit is studied. Pate said the unified license also should be examined.

The Coastal Conservation Association of North Carolina, which lobbied for years for the permit, generally didn't have a problem with most of Pate's recommendations. Association president Mike Ward said the group doesn't want to place a burden on anyone to fish but wants to collect as much information as possible from anglers to determine how certain fish stocks are growing or declining.

Rep. Pryor Gibson, D-Montgomery, a committee co-chairman, said charter boat owners, some of whom complained publicly about the legislation during the meeting, would get a place at the table to craft any changes.

"This is a work in progress," Gibson said. "It's a complex work."

[Shag]

I'm sorry to hear of the passage of a salt water license. This will mean that I wil no longer spend upwards of $2000.00 to rent that beach house at Easter, nor the thousand or so dollars spent in restaurants, the hundreds of dollars in fishing, surfing, or windsurfing gear at the local shops. This is nothing more than another tax added to the already long list, and since I'm not a resident of NC I have nothing to say or do about it. So I'll be putting a big red X over the State when it comes to buying a retirement home or visiting in the future. Too bad we really used to like visiting, but I can catch the same fish a few months later in NY without the added tax. Kinda funny a state that supported GW and his no tax proposals has a tax on fishing before a liberal state like NY who supported JK. Who woulda thought????
Hatteras off my mind,
Pete

[BaitWaster]

Originally posted by Shag:
I'm sorry to hear of the passage of a salt water license. This will mean that I wil no longer spend upwards of $2000.00 to rent that beach house at Easter, nor the thousand or so dollars spent in restaurants, the hundreds of dollars in fishing, surfing, or windsurfing gear at the local shops. This is nothing more than another tax added to the already long list, and since I'm not a resident of NC I have nothing to say or do about it. So I'll be putting a big red X over the State when it comes to buying a retirement home or visiting in the future. Too bad we really used to like visiting, but I can catch the same fish a few months later in NY without the added tax. Kinda funny a state that supported GW and his no tax proposals has a tax on fishing before a liberal state like NY who supported JK. Who woulda thought????
Hatteras off my mind,
Pete

Hard to understand how a $1 or even $5 a week for an out-stater (same price for in-stater) is bad and the 12% state and local occupancy tax they pile on in Dare County is OK.

Sorry you feel that way but IMO you need to pay to play. We need better fisheries managment in the state and the folks that harvest need to pay the freight.

I honestly and sincerely believe you won't be missed. Unfortunatley for this old N. Cagalaki native, there are thousands to fill your void.

NC - a Red and now a Red X state. Kewel.

BTW, the license, if it survives the next legilative cycle doesn't become active until 1/1/2006. So you can 'mon down and bless us with your "yankee money" one mo' year.

Edited: Just pickin' and maybe "yankee money" is a bit over the top

[ 11-26-2004, 07:36 PM: Message edited by: BaitWaster ]

[dh44mag]

You mean to tell me that after paying $3000 plus dollars on your trip plus the hundreds of dollars you mentioned that you spend on fishing and recreational equipment not to mention the money you spend on tolls, gas, and other misc expenses to get here - that another $10 is going to cause you to cancel your trip and you'll never visit this state again - get real!

Also, you've been coming down here taking advantage of our resources for years and now that we are finally asking that you help support the resources you've enjoyed, we're being unfair???

[ 04-25-2005, 02:10 PM: Message edited by: dh44mag ]

[C.Salp]

There were skeptics in Virginia when the license was debated and passed, but by virtually all accounts, the Virginia S.W. license has been a resounding success.

This certainly does not mean that North Carolina's license is guaranteed to be a success [and based upon my distant following of the bill language it is less than perfect], but I think that a license is a generally a good thing -- provided that it is set up and implemented properly, it will yield positive and cost-effective results for the resource and its participants.

Stewardship and accountability are good things, in my view.

CS

[Stickman]

If the money for it goes back into something that helps saltwater fishing a few bucks wouln't hurt, I've lost more in lures! It's when someone uses the money to pay for some African Safari that would piss me off