NOAA Proposes Rule to Require Saltwater Angler Registration

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http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/mediacenter/do ... gistry.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Contact: Monica Allen FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
301-713-2370 June 11, 2008
202-379-6693
NOAA Proposes Rule to Require Saltwater Angler Registration
NOAA’s Fisheries Service is seeking comment on a proposed rule that requires anglers
and spearfishers who fish recreationally in federal ocean waters to be registered before fishing
in 2009.
The rule would also require registration by those who may catch anadromous species
anywhere, including striped bass, salmon and shad that spawn in rivers and streams and spend
their adult lives in estuaries and the ocean.
The proposed rule satisfies the National Academy of Science National Research Council
recommendations to establish a national database of saltwater anglers, and meets the
requirements under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The
proposed rule is part of a larger initiative of NOAA’s Fisheries Service to improve the quality and
accuracy of data on marine recreational fishing and catches. The registry will also help measure
the economic benefits of recreational fishing on the national and local economies.
“The national registry of saltwater anglers is the key to closing a major gap in information
on recreational fishing,” said Jim Balsiger, NOAA acting assistant administrator for NOAA’s
Fisheries Service. “It will help us conduct surveys to get a more complete picture of how
recreational fishing by an estimated 14 million people is affecting fish stocks. This will lead to
better stock assessments and more effective regulations to rebuild and manage these valuable
fish.”
NOAA may exempt anglers from registration if they already have a state-issued
saltwater fishing license or registration, and the state provides sufficiently complete information
to place in the national registry. In certain instances, anglers in states participating in regional
surveys of marine recreational fishing may also be exempted. The new rule allows states to
apply for exemptions.
States on the West Coast (including Alaska), the Gulf Coast, and the South Atlantic offer
saltwater fishing licenses. Hawaii and the states from New Jersey to Maine do not.
“States without saltwater licenses have a strong incentive to adopt licenses,” said
Balsiger. “Any fee that a state collects through a license can be used for restoration and fishery
management in the state. By law, the registry fee taken by NOAA will offset the cost of issuing
the registration. It can not be specifically directed to fisheries management.”
Fishermen would be required to be registered annually and NOAA will not charge a
registration fee in the first two years. Beginning in 2011, the annual fee will be an estimated $15
to $25 per angler. Anglers under the age of 16 would be exempt from registering and fees would
be waived for indigenous people, such as members of federally recognized tribes. NOAA’s
Fisheries Service recognizes that many indigenous people fish for food as part of ancient
cultural traditions.
Anglers who fish only on licensed party, charter, or guide boats would also be exempt,
since these vessels are surveyed separately from the angler surveys. Also, persons who hold
commercial fishing licenses or permits, and are legally fishing under them, will be exempt from
the registration requirement.
Registrations will include an angler’s name, address, telephone number, and the regions
where fishing is conducted. This information will not be made public; it will be used only by
NOAA to conduct surveys.
The National Academy of Science’s National Research Council advised NOAA’s
Fisheries Service in 2006 to redesign its surveys of recreational fishermen for more accuracy,
precision, and transparency. The NRC’s independent scientific review resulted in more than 200
recommendations for improving marine recreational surveys, including the recommendation to
establish a national database of saltwater anglers. This recommendation became law in the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the primary fisheries law for
U.S. ocean waters, which was reauthorized in 2007. Please see
http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/mrip" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for additional information on this effort, the Marine
Recreational Information Program.
For the last 28 years, NOAA’s Fisheries Service has conducted recreational fishing
surveys through random telephone interviews with residents living in coastal counties. NOAA
and its regional and state partners conduct an extensive program of dockside interviews of
anglers to obtain data on their catch.
The national saltwater registry will enable surveyors to interview only those people who
fish, and will reach all anglers, not only those who live near the coast. To read the proposed
rule, go to http://www.countmyfish.noaa.gov" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted until Aug. 11. They can be mailed to:
John Boreman
Director, Office of Science and Technology
NMFS
1315 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Attn.: Gordon Colvin
Comments can also be submitted electronically at http://www.regulations.gov" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the
prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery
for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and
marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems
(GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European
Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it
observes, predicts, and protects.

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THe Miami Herald reports as follows:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_d ... 67125.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

National registration for anglers proposed
BY CURTIS MORGAN
Starting next year, many of the roughly three million people who drop hooks and lines into Florida's coastal waters could be required to register every year in a new national database of recreational anglers -- if they want to fish legally.
The National Marine Fisheries Service proposed the registry rule on Wednesday, saying the federal government wants to know who is fishing for only one reason -- to get more accurate surveys of what and how much they're catching. Fishery managers closely monitor commercial industry landings, but admit they're uncertain about the impact of sport angling on the economy and on declining fish stocks.

''There is no conspiracy here,'' Jim Balsiger, acting assistant administrator for the fisheries service, said during a national conference call. ``It is recognition on our part that we had a poor data-collection system for our recreational fishery.''

For Florida, which tops the nation in both resident and visiting anglers, the proposal could have far-reaching ripple effects.

After a two-year grace period, an estimated $15 to $25 would be added to the cost of fishing legally starting in 2011.

The state could seek an exemption because its Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission already licenses some 1.5 million salt-water anglers. That would allow the FWC to share contact information with the federal agency, and spare Florida license holders the trouble of individually registering.

But landing that exemption may prove difficult.

It would likely require the Florida Legislature to eliminate a long-standing exemption for people who now fish from beaches, docks and piers without needing the $17 annual license boaters require. Lawmakers have flatly rejected FWC requests to include them over the last two decades, most recently this year.

''We may or may not qualify for a full-fledged exemption because we don't license everyone. We have a gaping hole in the licensing structure where we exempt people who fish from shore,'' said Lee Schlesinger, a spokesman for the FWC's division of marine fisheries. ``There are still a lot of questions to be asked before we know where to go next.''

SOME EXCEPTIONS

The state also exempts kids under age 16, seniors over 65 and a handful of other groups, but the proposal would allow such common exceptions. Most charter boat operators and fishing guides, who already must have state and U.S. Coast Guard licenses, won't be required to register -- nor will clients, fisheries managers said.

Technically, the proposal would only require registration by Florida anglers fishing in federal waters -- that's three miles from shore on the East Coast and nine miles on the Gulf Coast.

But Gordon Colvin, a fisheries biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the Fisheries Service, said the huge number of unaccounted-for anglers in Florida's current licensing system would make any survey results suspect.

''Florida has an awful lot of fishermen,'' Colvin said. ``There is a very substantial portion of them that fish from shore.''

The U.S. Census Bureau, in a 2006 survey, estimated some 2.77 million Florida residents fished along with another 850,000 visitors. With 1.5 million licensed anglers, that suggests half or more of the state's anglers are exempt -- or scofflaws.

For the past 30 years, the service has relied on random phone calls to coastal residents to compile recreation catch assessments.

The National Science Academy, which reviewed the surveys, said establishing a national registry of known anglers would improve accuracy. Balsiger said it also would help managers make better calls on when to protect overfished species or lift restrictions on anglers.

''Without good data, we'll almost always get it wrong,'' he said.

PRIVATE INFORMATION

Anglers would either go online to register or use an 800 number. They would be asked to provide name, telephone number and regions fished -- information NOAA says will remain private except for survey use.

Balsiger said the agency was providing an incentive for states to either tighten licensing programs or, in the case of Hawaii and states from New Jersey to Maine, start them. States that meet NOAA's exemption standards can keep the annual registration fees to support marine programs.

Some recreational fishing groups, which have long argued that fishery managers favor commercial interests and undervalue sport angling, support the proposal. But some fishermen doubt the agency will get much cooperation.

''I've been fishing for 35 years and nobody has once asked for a license, so do you think I'm gonna worry about some national list?'' said angler John Williams as he braved thunderstorms at Anglins Pier in Lauderdale By the Sea on Wednesday to fill his bucket with small yellowtail snapper. ``Who's gonna believe anything a fisherman says, anyway?''

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To tell them how you feel, go to this site http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/mrip/aboutu ... rteam.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

NOAA says, "The registry will help improve data collection by creating a universe of saltwater anglers—essentially a phonebook of fishermen that is updated each year. This resource will help reduce bias and improve the efficiency of catch and effort surveys. Instead of asking a random sample of coastal U.S. residents if they’ve gone fishing (what is currently done), an angler registry would allow surveyors to call upon those who have already identified themselves as saltwater fishermen."

And at a cost of $15-$25 per person. Why don't they just get the data from the agencys collecting money for fishing license.

Seeking Public Comments
NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on the proposed rule through August 11, 2008. Comments may be submitted in a variety of formats using the following identifier: RIN 0648-AW10.

Electronically:www.regulations.gov

By Fax:
(301) 713-1875
Attn: Gordon Colvin

By Mail:
John Boreman, Director
Office of Science and Technology, NMFS
1315 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Attn: Gordon Colvin

[Sir reel]

Comment sent. Thanks Jeff

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppression" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dubble

[Barhopr]

Sorry didn't read the whole post but don't we already have a yearly registration process for salt water fishing. I think it is called a fishing license.

[DwayneFisherman]

Sorry didn't read the whole post but don't we already have a yearly registration process for salt water fishing. I think it is called a fishing license.

Exactly. Were already registered due to our fishing license.

I'll tell ya, you almost have to bring an attorney with you to go fishing anymore.

[Sir reel]

But the proposal indicates that just because a State has a licensing program doesn't mean that NOAA has to or will exempt you. If they don't like the State's data or the form its in they can require you to register. (as I read it)

[kikstand454]

well this is retarded and i bet there will be a vast majority of small boat and canoe/ kayak owners that will probably just go back to wading and not registering,reporting or paying anything. 52 dollars to legally fish from a canoe at wakulla beach? bite me.

[CATCH 22]

Technically, the proposal would only require registration by Florida anglers fishing in federal waters -- that's three miles from shore on the East Coast and nine miles on the Gulf Coast.

If I'm reading this right, They just want data from Fed waters, so why all the fuss about people who fish from shore. I know I cant cast that far

[jsuber]

Its called setting a precedence. If they start with the Federal waters, how long before they are monitoring our farm ponds. We really have it good in our country, you should see the whacked out crazy rules for fishing in the European countries. You have licences to fish from the bank, license to wade, license for navigable waters, licnese for non-navgable. Some places you have to specify the fish you are going to catch and you only get the one, and some places will not let you release the fish because your contact will contaminate the water and kill the other fish. Lets feel good about what we have and protect it from those that want ot over regulate and those that want to under regulate. FWC barely has enough money in their budgets to enforce the current rules and laws.

[Littoral]

Lets feel good about what we have and protect it from those that want to over regulate and those that want to under regulate.

I'm not sure there's any space between the two, but I'm with ya, we gotta try.
First we gotta get past these idiots that actually think humans can alter the climate.
(yes, sarcasm)

[firedriver90]

I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but "big brother shore is stickin his fingers where they dont belong."
sounds to me like this Manguson-Stevens feller is a lookin for a handout.Maybe he outta try fishin for his dinner a time or two.By the time you add up what it costs all of us to go fishing,we are payin about 50 dollars a pound for fish. Now they want to add some more? i understand its only planned for those with alot better boats than mine at this point but we are on the radar.i have an old boat and i wont be affected short term but think all of us fishin folk should tell noaa that this proposal will not fly.Daggummit, those hoopleheads tick me off.
Bob