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East End lawmakers are still working to undue the state’s adoption of its first-ever saltwater recreational fishing license.
State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. introduced two bills in the state Assembly earlier this month that could supplant the annual fishing license required by the state for anyone fishing in saltwaters, which went into effect on October 1. The first bill would postpone the effective date of the license program until July 1, 2010. The second proposes scrapping the $10 annual license in favor of a one-time angler registry program, as some other Northeast states have adopted.
Mr. Thiele said that the delay of implementation would not supplant the need for a license during the remainder of this year, but would put off the requirement of a 2010 license, which some residents have already purchased, until July to give the state the opportunity to draft the free registry law.
Mr. Thiele said he is hopeful that a change in demeanor in the State Legislature may mean there will be more support for the anti-license legislation now. Bills Mr. Thiele introduced earlier this year in hopes of stopping the implementation of the license did not receive necessary support from the powerful upstate legislators, where constituents are largely not burdened by the license requirement.
“State legislators have read the tea leaves after this last election and they’re seeing that people are angry over the licenses, the MTA tax, a number of things,” Mr. Thiele said. “At the federal level, Senator [Charles] Schumer has come out and opposed the saltwater license, Attorney General Cuomo refused to defend the case—there’s growing momentum.”
Meanwhile, attorneys for three East End towns are to appear in state Supreme Court today, November 19, for conferences on a lawsuit they have filed seeking an injunction against the enforcement of the license. Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island towns have also filed lawsuits challenging the license on the basis that colonial-era patents issued to the East End towns supersede the authority of the state. The towns of Brookhaven, Huntington and Oyster Bay are now also seeking to join the lawsuit and will appear in court with the East End contingent before Judge Patrick Sweeney in Central Islip.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office refused to take up the state’s defense case. Attorneys from the state Department of Environmental Conservation will represent the state for the time being.
The state adopted the license in the wake of a federal requirement that all states implement a system for registering all saltwater anglers to improve fishery tracking data. Governor David Paterson’s office billed the license as a user-based revenue source that will generate $3 million toward the deficit-addled state coffers.
Several states have implemented basic angler registries with small administrative fees. Delaware adopted a free, one-time registry like what Mr. Thiele has proposed and New Jersey is considering a similar proposal. Governor Don Carcieri of Rhode Island recently vetoed a $7 annual license requirement adopted by his state’s legislature. In the Northeast, only Connecticut and New York have implemented state saltwater licenses thus far.
If states do not have some form of registry in place by the end of the year the federal National Marine Fisheries Service will implement its own registries in those states, which could cost as much as $25 annually.
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