Federal Permit required for STRIPERS
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Tom Meade: Anglers must obtain federal permits
01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, May 11, 2008
Beginning next January, everyone fishing for striped bass, shad or sea-run trout will have to register with the federal government unless the angler already has a state-issued saltwater-fishing permit. The fine for not having a federal or state permit could run into the thousands of dollars.
None of the New England states offers a saltwater-fishing license, although Connecticut’s General Assembly is working on one.
Until 2011, federal permits will be free. They will be available online or by calling a toll-free phone number to be announced.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is creating a national registry of anglers and charter boats who fish in federal waters, outside the three-mile limit. The registry also will list anglers who fish inside the three-mile limit for anadromous fish — like striped bass, shad, sea-run trout and others — that are born in freshwater, then go to sea. They return to freshwater to spawn.
The registry, like a national phone book, will allow researchers to call fishermen to keep track of what they are catching. A new version of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the federal law that controls saltwater fishing, requires the registry.
The fishing registry is similar to the federal Harvest Information Program that requires migratory-bird hunters to obtain an annual HIP card so the federal government can keep track of what the hunters are shooting. When a hunter buys a hunting license he or she provides an address, phone number and the answers to some simple questions about what was shot the previous season. The HIP permit is free.
Rhode Island has no plans to issue a similar permit that would conform to federal fishing regulations, according to Stephanie Powell, a spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Management. “We have talked with the feds, and have just begun to discuss this here,” she said. “We will be considering over the next year or so whether there is a viable alternative for the state or whether to have anglers just register with the feds. We have some time to deliberate.”
The Coast Guard and state law-enforcement officials along the coast will begin checking striper fishermen for saltwater-fishing permits next year, said Gordon Colvin, the NOAA official in charge of implementing the new program.
“With anglers, all we’re looking for is their name, address and telephone number so that we can call them and conduct telephone-based surveys,” he said.
Fishing regulators are supposed to make decisions about fishing seasons, areas and limits based on sound information. When Congress rewrote the Magnuson-Stevens Act to guide regulators, lawmakers demanded that recreational fishermen provide the same kind of information that commercial fishermen do.
Because commercial fishermen must buy licenses, it’s easier to keep track of them. To keep track of what recreational fishermen are catching, the government hires pollsters to intercept anglers at marinas and fishing piers to question them about their catch. NOAA also conducts random telephone interviews in coastal communities to question residents about fishing.
At least one Rhode Island marina does not allow pollsters on its docks. And the telephone surveys miss anglers who live inland, but fish the coast.
The new system, Colvin said, will give regulators direct access to anglers.
If an angler’s state does not offer some kind of fishing permit to gather names, addresses and phone numbers, the federal government will.
In 2011, the NOAA will start collecting a fee — probably around $25 — for its registry, Colvin said. To meet federal requirements, and generate some additional revenue, some states are crafting saltwater fishing licenses; they include Connecticut, New York and New Hampshire.
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Tom Meade: Anglers must obtain federal permits
01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, May 11, 2008
Beginning next January, everyone fishing for striped bass, shad or sea-run trout will have to register with the federal government unless the angler already has a state-issued saltwater-fishing permit. The fine for not having a federal or state permit could run into the thousands of dollars.
None of the New England states offers a saltwater-fishing license, although Connecticut’s General Assembly is working on one.
Until 2011, federal permits will be free. They will be available online or by calling a toll-free phone number to be announced.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is creating a national registry of anglers and charter boats who fish in federal waters, outside the three-mile limit. The registry also will list anglers who fish inside the three-mile limit for anadromous fish — like striped bass, shad, sea-run trout and others — that are born in freshwater, then go to sea. They return to freshwater to spawn.
The registry, like a national phone book, will allow researchers to call fishermen to keep track of what they are catching. A new version of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the federal law that controls saltwater fishing, requires the registry.
The fishing registry is similar to the federal Harvest Information Program that requires migratory-bird hunters to obtain an annual HIP card so the federal government can keep track of what the hunters are shooting. When a hunter buys a hunting license he or she provides an address, phone number and the answers to some simple questions about what was shot the previous season. The HIP permit is free.
Rhode Island has no plans to issue a similar permit that would conform to federal fishing regulations, according to Stephanie Powell, a spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Management. “We have talked with the feds, and have just begun to discuss this here,” she said. “We will be considering over the next year or so whether there is a viable alternative for the state or whether to have anglers just register with the feds. We have some time to deliberate.”
The Coast Guard and state law-enforcement officials along the coast will begin checking striper fishermen for saltwater-fishing permits next year, said Gordon Colvin, the NOAA official in charge of implementing the new program.
“With anglers, all we’re looking for is their name, address and telephone number so that we can call them and conduct telephone-based surveys,” he said.
Fishing regulators are supposed to make decisions about fishing seasons, areas and limits based on sound information. When Congress rewrote the Magnuson-Stevens Act to guide regulators, lawmakers demanded that recreational fishermen provide the same kind of information that commercial fishermen do.
Because commercial fishermen must buy licenses, it’s easier to keep track of them. To keep track of what recreational fishermen are catching, the government hires pollsters to intercept anglers at marinas and fishing piers to question them about their catch. NOAA also conducts random telephone interviews in coastal communities to question residents about fishing.
At least one Rhode Island marina does not allow pollsters on its docks. And the telephone surveys miss anglers who live inland, but fish the coast.
The new system, Colvin said, will give regulators direct access to anglers.
If an angler’s state does not offer some kind of fishing permit to gather names, addresses and phone numbers, the federal government will.
In 2011, the NOAA will start collecting a fee — probably around $25 — for its registry, Colvin said. To meet federal requirements, and generate some additional revenue, some states are crafting saltwater fishing licenses; they include Connecticut, New York and New Hampshire.
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