Fishing fees
July 20th, 2009, 2:14 pm · Post a Comment · posted by rdickson
Don’t look now, but come Aug. 1 it will cost you a little something to drop a line in the water from the shore of a local bay, bayou or sound.
For many anglers in this part of the county the nine dollar fee for a shoreline license might not mean anything because you’d rather be hooking a big old bass than going after flounder or some sort of sea trout. More power to you if that’s the case.
The fee by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is set as an alternative to a federal angler registration fee of $25 that was set to be implemented in the next several months that is supposed to help keep track on how many fish are being caught along the shore.
No matter how you slice it this fee just doesn’t sit well with me.
Maybe it’s because way back when I growing up in Gulf Breeze I loved fishing the waters of Pensacola Bay and Santa Rosa Sound. And I’ve renewed that pleasure since returning to Northwest Florida nine years ago. Even when I don’t catch anything, or something worth keeping, which is almost always, I enjoy relaxing on the pier at Liza Jackson Park in Fort Walton Beach as I watch the sun set and hope to catch a pin fish or croaker.
I really don’t see how my purchasing a fishing license is going to save the croaker population in Santa Rosa Sound.
On a more serious note, it seems as if the newest fee comes at the worst possible time. There will be exemptions from the fee for those receiving government assistant, which is all fine and good. But many people that are not on food stamps haven’t had a raise in a while, been forced to take a pay cut or furlough, or, even worse, lost their job. Whether these anglers fish for cheap fun or to help feed their family, the timing of this fee couldn’t be worse.
I do appreciate the FWC not charging more. Nine bucks is a lot better than the $25 the feds would charge. It just seems as if the license could have been cheaper or even free. I can’t imagine it would cost more than two or three dollars to process the license, and that would put the state in good standing with the feds.
Now I must decide if the cost is worth paying considering how little I fish. Maybe I’ll put a line in the water before the fee takes place and think about it.
