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Fish Busters' Bulletin
April 2007
Compiled by: Bob Wattendorf
What you didn’t know about fishing
licenses and why to buy now…
Other states charge $20 for a fishing license;
Florida gets only $12. It’s reached the point where some anglers
are calling on legislators to raise the fees. Although a few
anglers view fishing licenses as a necessary evil that is as
inevitable as taxes, most understand what the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) uses the money for and
put the value they receive in return into perspective. Those
anglers realize their fishing licenses are a great recreational
bargain that helps ensure safe and sustainable recreation
fishing for themselves, their families, friends and future
generations. Read on for a great offer on five-year freshwater
fishing licenses.
Fishing as recreation goes back at least 3,000
years. Thaddeus Norris, in his 1864 publication, "The American
Angler’s Book,” specifically referred to the need for
conservation. In Florida, the then-State Department of Game and
Fresh Water Fish sold the first state fishing licenses in 1925
to support conservation (MyFWC.com/Fishing/Timeline).
Costs were $2 for out-of-county residents, free for county
residents and $5 for out-of-state. Back then, $2 would buy what
$23 buys today. Since 1989, resident anglers have paid $12 for a
freshwater or saltwater fishing license (saltwater fees have not
increased since the Legislature established them in 1989). Those
fees in 2006 dollars equate to $20 and are the 13th least
expensive among state freshwater fishing license fees and fifth
lowest of the 11 states that sell saltwater licenses. The
average resident fishing license for fresh or saltwater in other
states is also about $20.
State law guarantees Florida anglers that all
money from the sale of fishing licenses goes to the FWC to help
fulfill the mission of "Managing fish and wildlife resources for
their long-term well-being and the benefit of people.” Congress
mandated that state legislatures agree to these terms in order
to receive the benefits of the Federal Aid in Sport Fish
Restoration Act (SFR).
In 1950, congressmen Dingell and Johnson created
the original SFR program in which fishing tackle is assessed an
excise fee. The "Wallop-Breaux" amendment in 1984 expanded the
act by adding import duties on sport fishing equipment, pleasure
boats and yachts as well as tax revenue from motorboat fuel
sales. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reimburses states from
these funds for $3 of every $4 spent on qualifying Sport Fish
Restoration projects.
In 1994, passage of the Transportation Equity
Act (TEA-21) authorized a National Outreach and Communications
Program to increase participation in angling and boating and to
impress on boaters and anglers the importance of healthy aquatic
habitats. It also increased the minimum level of spending for
boating access to 15 percent and raised the maximum allowable
expenditure of Sport Fish Restoration apportionments for aquatic
education and outreach to 15 percent. The 1994 Act also created
a Boating Infrastructure Grant Program for construction or
maintenance of facilities for recreational boats longer than 26
feet. TEA-21 also raised the amount of federal gas tax credited
to Sport Fish Restoration and established a "permanent”
appropriation for the Boating Safety Account. The result is one
of the most successful "user pays, user benefits" programs in
the world.
The amount of money Florida receives is based on
the size of the state and the number of paid-licensed anglers --
not licenses and permits, but the people who hold them. As an
example, an angler having a freshwater license, a saltwater
license and a snook permit, counts only once. Since Florida does
not charge license fees to youths under 16, adults over 65 or
resident saltwater anglers fishing from the shore, Florida
recovers a smaller proportion of the funds than other states do.
This is becoming an increasing problem as other states adjust
their license structure to maximize the number of paid-license
holders they certify for federal aid and thus recover a greater
proportion of the excise taxes paid by our anglers. Each
certified holder generates approximately $7 more for sport fish
restoration in Florida.
Sport Fish Restoration provided $9.1 million for
Florida in 2006, of which 15 percent ($1.4 million) went to
boating access. Of the remaining, $7.7 million, freshwater
fisheries conservation received $3.2 million and saltwater
fisheries conservation received $4.5 million, based on the
estimated number of resident freshwater anglers versus saltwater
anglers. Those dollars go to protect a recreational fishing
resource that has an economic benefit to Floridians of more than
$8 billion (MyFWC.com/Facts).
Activities such as habitat restoration, fish
stocking, conservation law enforcement, artificial reefs, youth
fishing clinics and boating access all depend on fishing license
fees and matching Sport Fish Restoration funds. Consequently,
the FWC encourages all anglers to buy a license (MyFWC.com/License).
Even a legally exempt angler can contribute to the future of our
fisheries resources and the health of our habitat in this way.
Moreover, the Federal SFR program contributes approximately $7
for each new license holder.
If you want an even more painless way to
contribute, buy a five-year freshwater fishing license right
now, and you will automatically receive a free-bonus package
from the FWC via mail with fishing-related, products donated by
the industry, worth more than the cost of the license ($60 plus
issuance fees). This offer applies only to the first 3,000
licenses sold after March 1, 2007 and will probably last until
the end of May; see
MyFWC.com/Fishing/5yr-2007.html for details and to verify if
the offer is still available. The FWC will get the $7 SFR match
each of the five years your license is valid, and you can fish
for today’s prices even if the Legislature decides to increase
fees.
Visit
MyFWC.com/Fishing/Updates for more Fish Busters' columns.
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