Are Salt Water Fishing Licenses Next?

Officials from the Department of Fish and Game laid out their plan before a packed meeting in Portsmouth Wednesday evening.

They propose charging individual recreational fishermen and commercial vessels that take those people out to sea.

State Representative Dennis Abbott, a Republican from Newmarket, is drafting legislation to impose the license fees.

He says that recreational salt-water fishermen pay nothing, while inland freshwater fishermen must pay for permits..

(Abbott) :05

“They need to contribute like everyone else…all the other sportsmen.”

Fish and Game is proposing a $15 dollar annual fee for New Hampshire residents, and $5 dollars for a daily fishing permit.

Those fees would double for non residents.

Charter and Party Boats would be charged up to $500 a year for permits, depending on size.

That fee would exempt passengers from needing a license to fish from those vessels.

Lee Perry told the group of mostly charter and party boat operators that he expects some resistance to the new fees.

(Perry) :11

“It’s the first of its kind here in the Northeast. It’s not the first of its kind in the nation. The Southeast coast, the gulf coast and the West Coast have done this effectively.”

And Perry pointed out that fresh water licenses are subsidizing Seacoast operators who benefit from the department’s resource conservation efforts.

Fish and game officials say the licenses could produce up to a million dollars for the state.

But many fishing boat owners wondered why the burden should be on them.

Bob Bealieu complained that another fee piled on top of higher operating and gas costs would be deadly for his charter boat operating out of Portsmouth.

(Bealieu) :18

“Last year I reached a high of buying my fuel for the boat of $4.10 a gallon and I don’t think its going to be any less for this year. Its just reached the point that there’s too much cost for everything.”

Some boat owners worried that since Maine and Massachusetts don't charge salt-water fishing fees, commercial boats there would siphon customers away, by advertising no-fee trips.

Others argued that the charter fishing boats already help the state by attracting people who spend money at hotels, restaurants and other local businesses.

This meeting was just the first step in what could be a long legislative process.

Next week, the Fish and Game Department are scheduled to hear from individual anglers.

And, a bill is still in its final stage of drafting.

Hearings before the House and then the Senate are not expected until late winter or early spring.

For NHPR News, this is Roger Wood in Portsmouth.