Saltwater Fishing Fiasco Blunders Forward

If there is one thing Maine does not need right now, it is more government. The state and its citizens are broke. Yet a legislative committee is plowing blindly ahead with a plan that will add a new bureaucratic layer while costing Mainers more money and tightening state control over our lives.

For centuries, Mainers have been able to fish free in saltwater. That right is a central feature of our seagoing heritage. Now a bill is moving quickly through the Legislature (LD 1432) that would establish a saltwater fishing registry and force all saltwater anglers to pay a $5 fee every year. Out-of-staters would be hit for $15. This amounts to a $3 million annual tax in a bad economy.

Similar bills requiring saltwater licenses were killed in the last Legislature and even in the first session of this one. The idea is wildly unpopular, but the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) refuses to take “no” for an answer. Failing to mandate licenses, it has resorted to a registry. The change is little more than semantic.

DMR would administer the registry and directly benefit from the new fees. They would be deposited in the Marine Recreation Fishing Conservation and Management Fund to finance “research and conservation efforts” and “administration and enforcement” of the registry. The DMR also would benefit from fines. Anyone caught fishing without a registration, according to the legislation, “commits a civil violation for which a fine of not less than $100 may be adjudged.” The bill mentions no upper limit for fines.

The root cause of all this commotion is the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006. Under that federal law, anglers fishing in federal waters (three to 200 miles off shore) must register with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). They also must register if they fish inside three miles for migratory fish such as striped bass, shad, blueback herring and alewives. NOAA registration for 2010 is free but may cost something in the future.

Based on this situation, the DMR and its legislative allies argue that we should enact our own registry and “keep the money in the state.” But here’s a key point: Nothing in the federal law says that states must enact a saltwater fishing license or registry. If we maintain the status quo – as we should – only a small percentage of saltwater anglers must register with the feds. Anyone else is exempt, such as those fishing inside the three-mile limit for mackerel, bluefish, flounder, haddock, Pollock and more.

Oddly, a state registry or license, to comply with the federal rules, would have to be much broader than the federal registry. According to NOAA, the only time “all” saltwater fishermen need to register with the feds is when a state adopts its own license or registry program. With a registry, we’d complicate our lives with no upside.

As a legislator, I feel it is critical to explore all details and unintended consequences of such a far-reaching bill. Unfortunately, confusion reigns. There are too many unanswered questions and hazy complications. I hope they can be resolved before LD 1432 moves out of committee and into the full Legislature.

State Rep. Kerri Prescott (R-Topsham) serves on the Marine Resources Committee

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