What is the rationalle for fishing licenses?

As I understand it, at least in NC, you must have a fishing license if you are using artificial bait but you don't have to have one if you use live bait. I can't understand the reasoning. People have been feeding themselves and their families for all time by fishing. Being that there are more blue collar and lower-income people fishing for food to feed their families, how is this not the same as a tax on the poor?


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I'll bite: One word..management. Tragedy of the commons. Same as hunting. People do not understand the need for protection and bag limits of or nearshore species in Hawaii....here is some food for thought. Our senate has propsed to cut out our Division of Aquatic resources..or essentially on the "outer islands" Here is my letter to our thoughtful senators:
I am appalled upon learning the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), could be shut down under the most recent budget proposal in the state Senate. The mission of the Division of Aquatic Resources is to manage, conserve and restore the state's unique aquatic resources and ecosystems for present and future generations. The DAR is an essential component in protecting not only our aquatic ecosystems, but our culture, sustainability and ultimately our economy.

The State of Hawai`i is ranked 48th among the 50 states in terms of public money spent on aquatic resource management, even though Hawai`i has the largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the United States - over 900,000 square miles. A forty percent increase is needed to bring it up to the national mean. In the state of Wyoming the informational and educational specialists outnumber the entire Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) staff. The small DAR budget, which has responsibility for conserving and managing all of Hawai`i's aquatic resources, is one of the primary reasons for the decline in the quantity and quality of our marine resources. While Hawai`i's economic situation is partly to blame for this lack of funds, the failure to realize how important our natural resources are to our tourist economy is mostly to blame. Unless we change our priorities and make sure that we spend at least as much taking care of our marine resources as we spend advertising them, our economy is not going to get much better. (*Source: The Pacific Fisheries Coalition)

Economic Impact of Sportfishing by State for 2001
Salaries Sales and State Federal
Economic Output Retail Sales and Wages Jobs Motor Fuel Taxes Income Taxes Income Taxes
Hawaii $186,562,268 $107,906,440 $49,796,556 2,095 $5,170,991 $3,453,889 $7,774,762
United States $116,064,518,700 $41,528,003,337 $30,108,800,941 1,068,046 $1,913,373,871 $470,239,851 $4,885,011,975
NOTE: The figures above only include fishing activity attributed to anglers 16 years old and older. There are additional economic impacts generated by minors.
NOTE: The U.S. total does not equal the sum of state data as economic activity across state borders are not included in the state totals, in addition to other factors.
NOTE: The expenditures reported here are greater than those reported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Sportsmen often attributed purchases to both fishing
and hunting (especially vehicles and big-ticket items). These items were not included in the Service’s fishing expenditure estimates. Such items were included
above by prorating each item’s cost based on each respondent’s total days of hunting and fishing activity.
Source: American Sportfishing Association; Southwick Associates

In 2009 more anglers got out of the house and out on the water as fishing license sales rose by 4.7 percent in states that participate in the fishing license sales index released by the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) and the American Sportfishing Association (ASA). Florida, Minnesota, North Carolina and Texas, four of the 12 participating states, are among the top ten states in terms of the impact anglers have on the nation's economy
Ultimately, anglers, and other sportsmen and women, are the most significant funding source for conservation in the United States. Through the purchase of fishing licenses and special excise taxes on gear and motorboat fuel, hundreds of millions of anglers' dollars each year are collected or funneled to states for conservation and recreation. In 2008, $720 million of these excise taxes were distributed for fisheries management and recreational boating enhancement. In addition, fishing license sales generated $600 million in revenue for state fish and wildlife agencies.
Here is an original solution: Hawaii needs to implement recreational fishing licenses. This will encourage stewardship of our ocean environment and will generate its own economic engine. Charge $10 per year per angler. Out of the approximately 150,000 anglers in the state….you do the math. That alone would probably staff our current our DAR offices. It is time for Hawaii to step up to the plate and manage its natural resources and economy wisely and intelligently. Wake up!
By the way, I am an avid recreational and commercial fisherman and soon to be hunter as well as a scientist, and I would gladly pay a measly $10 per year on top of my $50 dollar a year commercial fishing license.
Given the amount of money spent on fishing gear alone for even one outing, $10 or even $20 annual license fee would be negligible. Complaints from fisherman regarding this fee should be ignored. I have watched our near shore fisheries decline to absurdly low biomass levels in the past 20 years here on Maui. Eliminating DAR would be a death sentence for what little near shore fishery resources we currently have. It has been shown time and time again fisheries CAN be restored.
Ironically, I will pay for a yearly hunting license fee as well and I do not hear hunters complaining about this fee..

Some other pearls of wisdom:
• More Americans fish than play golf and tennis combined.
• In Florida, people spend over three times more days fishing than at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.
• The overall impact of angler expenditures would make sportfishing 32nd on the Fortune 500 list of America’s largest companies, above such global giants as Target, Sears, and Johnson & Johnson.
• Nine times more jobs are supported by anglers than employed by AT&T.
• Costa Rica and Mexican waters require fishing licenses.

As I understand it, at least in NC, you must have a fishing license if you are using artificial bait but you don’t have to have one if you use live bait. I can’t understand the reasoning. People have been feeding themselves and their families for all time by fishing.

Economic Impact of Sportfishing by State for 2001
Salaries Sales and State Federal
Economic Output Retail Sales and Wages Jobs Motor Fuel Taxes Income Taxes Income Taxes
Hawaii $186,562,268 $107,906,440 $49,796,556 2,095 $5,170,991 $3,453,889 $7,774,762
United States $116,064,518,700 $41,528,003,337 $30,108,800,941 1,068,046 $1,913,373,871 $470,239,851 $4,885,011,975
NOTE: The figures above only include fishing activity attributed to anglers 16 years old and older. There are additional economic impacts generated by minors.



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