December 28, 2008
NH.com
There hasn’t been a hotter subject for Granite State fishermen in years than the proposed saltwater fishing license.
Aside from NH Fish and Game’s seeing this as a chance to fill in the growing financial deficit it is facing because of increasing expenses and decreasing sources of income, some kind of a saltwater license or permit has been mandated by the National Marine Fisheries for the purpose of getting a handle on the amount of recreational-caught saltwater fish.
NH Fish and Game has claimed that the eventual cost of the federal permit would run upwards of $25 annually. But this is just speculation. NH Fish and Games proposal is for a state saltwater fishing license that would cost $15. That money would stay in-state and trump the fed’s mandate.
Because of what seemed to be a no-brainer, we were mildly in favor of the state’s proposal. But now there’s a new monkey wrench thrown into the mix by Maine.
New Hampshire’s people took it for granted that our adjoining states, Maine and Massachusetts, would both allow reciprocity, which would allow all three state’s saltwater fishermen to fish in any of the states with any license issued by any of the states. Now Maine is adamantly opposed to reciprocity. It has this in several other instances, such as snowmobile and ATV licensing and user fees.
Our view of support for the state’s saltwater license has taken a change because of Maine’s refusal on reciprocity. Why not wait until we see what the federal proposal is? Right now there is not going to be any fee for a year or so for the permit. Their permit will have no state boundaries, or so we’ve been lead to believe.
Our state’s hunters and fishermen have taken it on the chin for years, with their license fees and federal excise taxes on fishing and hunting gear, which is mostly returned to the state for conservation usages. We (the sportsmen of New Hampshire) have subsidized hikers, boaters, wildlife watchers, the tourism industry and many other people because we are the only substantial funding for all the fisheries and wildlife in the state. A tremendous amount of money and the various taxes that the tourists pay for goods and services here comes from fisheries and wildlife. These tourists are not just hunters and fishermen. It runs the whole gamut of tourism to some extent.
So we’re being called on again to further subsidize, through Fish and Game, more non-paying public.
Another Fish and Game proposal that we have mixed emotions about is a move to bring all the coastal fishing captains under New Hampshire rule by demanding they become licensed guides. We’ve heard that this was discussed by the state attorney general and the ruling was that this was okay to do.
Well it may be OK to do, but the majority of US Coast Guard licensed captains are not very happy about it. All of them (including yours truly) have been required by Homeland Security to apply for Transportation Workers Identification Credentials. This costs $150 dollars and submits the captains to background checks, fingerprinting, etc. Mine took several frustrating visits to the government office because of computer program failures and other things.
The requirements for earning a Coast Guard captain’s license are very strict and take a lot of studying and effort. The testing is extreme. Also there are requirements for CPR and first aid certification, drug and alcohol testing, fingerprinting and background checks, as well as a complete physical examination and doctor’s certification that you are fit for this kind of duty. A little known fact is that these Coast Guard licensed captains are subject to call to duty during wartime.
NH Fish and Game, instead of just grandfathering current Coast Guard captains into their new saltwater guiding requirement, have stated that there will be testing. They don’t have a clue about what kind of resistance this testing will bring about. The Coast Guard licensed captains have had about all the testing and new requirements that they can stand.
Along with the proposed coastal guide’s license, there is a proposal to license the party and charter boats with another license to be for hire, as in taking paying customers. F&G’s proposal is for a fee for the larger boats (more than six paying customers) of $200 annually and for the six or under paying customers $100 annually.
Seems like someone has it out for the coastal people and is looking for new funding any where they can get it. So here’s what a typical six-or-under passenger for hire saltwater charter captain would need. The Coast Guard captain’s license (at a cost of well over $1,000 initially), a coastal guide’s license (don’t know how much that will cost), the TWIC card at $150, the passenger for hire license at $100, and a personal saltwater fishing license (most coastal guides also fish for recreational purposes) for $15 to $25.
It’s a beautiful thing.
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Is it really? We wonder, if the state is being forced to levy a new tax because the federal government will do it if we won’t, what is causing the federal government to want to do this via NOAA?
Is there any such thing as ‘international law’? We don’t think so, but apparently NOAA does, which is proof that the recently approved the UN’s Law of the Sea Treaty is what is forcing you to be fleeced for more taxes.
http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/law_of_sea.html
Read more about the treaty here:
http://www.newswithviews.com/Veon/joan17.htm
Here is the explanation CNHT received from the NH Fish and Game Department which claims to have no knowledge where this idea of taxing users of the ocean, might have originated even though NOAA was mentioned in his response:
CNHT: Who currently is required to have such a license in NH?
NHFG: A license is needed if fishing for smelt in Great Bay and tributaries, if fishing for any finfish through the ice in Great Bay and tributaries, or if fishing for any species of trout, shad or salmon in any state waters.
CNHT: For whom others are licenses being proposed in NH?
NHFG: New Hampshire Fish and Game will be proposing a saltwater recreational license to fish in any tidal waters of the State with a provision to have reciprocity with the states of Maine and Massachusetts. We are proposing to have the license required beginning in 2011 when NOAA Fisheries will begin charging fees for the National Saltwater Angler Registry ( see www.countmyfish.noaa.gov).
CNHT: Where does this mandate for licensing if there is one, originate?
NHFG: There is no mandate for a New Hampshire saltwater recreational license but the Magnuson Stevens Act of 2006 mandates the US Secretary of Commerce to implement a regionally based registry program for recreational fishermen by 2009 (National Saltwater Angler Registry). We are proposing the NH license to improve the estimates of recreational catch and harvest, to exempt NH anglers from the National Saltwater Angler Registry, and to enable fees from a saltwater license to come to the NH Fish and Game Department for use in marine fisheries management as opposed to the federal government.
I am unclear about what you are asking in the last 3 questions or how they relate to a saltwater license.
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Hmm, there is no mandate yet NOAA, clearly in league with the United Nations, will start charging if we don’t have one, by 2011? Interesting.