11-20-2004, 10:21 PM
[font "Arial"][black]RALEIGH, N.C. - Recreational fishermen may not need a license to fish in salt waters until 2007, a year later than agreed to by the General Assembly, a state fisheries official said Thursday.
After years of debate, the Legislature voted in July to require coastal anglers to get a permit to fish beginning Jan. 1, 2006.
Preston Pate, director of the Division of Marine Fisheries, told a legislative committee he doesn't believe a system can be in place by then and recommended pushing the start back to January 2007.
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 Committee 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."[/black][/font]
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After years of debate, the Legislature voted in July to require coastal anglers to get a permit to fish beginning Jan. 1, 2006.
Preston Pate, director of the Division of Marine Fisheries, told a legislative committee he doesn't believe a system can be in place by then and recommended pushing the start back to January 2007.
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 Committee 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."[/black][/font]
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