Monday, April 30, 2007
Anew saying might read thusly: "The best things in life used to be free." Everywhere you turn, it seems, someone or some entity is holding out a hand to collect a fee.
The most recent example of the nickel-and-dime collection syndrome is likely to fall on anglers who go out on the ocean with a fishing pole and a desire to emulate Ernest Hemingway.
Right now, it doesn't cost anything to fish for recreation off Maine's coast, but state lawmakers are considering whether such saltwater fishing should require a license.
While the notion of a "free to fish" ocean is worth defending, it's more appropriate to support a law requiring a $15 annual fee for a saltwater license. If you're not from Maine, then you'll have to pay twice that much.
There are several reasons to support the proposal. For starters, there's the issue of revenue. One estimate puts the state's take from a saltwater licensing program at $3 million to $5 million per year. Given that Maine's fisheries are in dire straits, that money could be well spent on restoration programs for fish stocks.
Maine's proposal also comes in advance of new federal policies that will mandate an annual U.S. license in 2011 -- with that revenue going to Washington. But if Maine has it's own prior policy, it can keep the licensing income because a federal license won't be required in those states that already have approved programs.
Licensing also creates a convenient database of recreational fishermen, who can be queried as to where they fish and what they catch. That information could be very useful in assessing the impact of recreational fishing on fish stocks and Maine's economy.
In the end, we have a responsibility to guard our natural resources, and that includes charging a reasonable fee that helps to protect them.
Reader comments
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1-6 of 6 comments:
The editorial never explains how license revenues will, in any way, alleviate the "dire straits" of Maine fish stocks.
Halibut stocking ?
Heh.
Right Whale stocking ?
Heh.
Swordfish stocking ?
Heh.
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Wake up, Maine!report abuse
Fishing is a source of entertainment for many and food for some. I would not be pleased to pay for something that has always been free to anyone who could hold a rig in the water and enjoy the tug of war, however so slight or mighty it may be. It may be just as well for my family to go fresh water fishing instead since it is more local and convenient for those who would not want to waste the fuel to mingle with crowds of tourists at parks, free beaches and elsewhere.
At this point the inland resources, might be depleted at rates higher than planned for and the would have fewer funds to deal with the problem. Stocking a lake costs money. Many of us do take the care and time to safely release fish in either fresh or salt water where they came from as not to reduce populations. Remember that some of us in Maine usually take some time to become Maine tourists as well in other parts of the state. report abuse
So basically what the PPH editorial is saying, after calling it a "nickel and dime" approach, is that because the state needs more money, we should support another "fee".....especially since those "from away" will pay even more.
The state will ALWAYS need/want more for some program or another. And every program has supporters who feel that the world just can't get by without it. That's why we're in this mess to begin with.
When/where does this thinking stop? Come on PPH, are you being ignorant or are you really in bed with the liberal left, tax and spenders?report abuse
Enough is Enoughreport abuse
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