License saltwater anglers to improve data collection and increase funding. Implement a uniform, state-based saltwater fishing license that will: (1) determine the number of saltwater anglers in federal and state waters; (2) provide for uniform collection of standardized data on catch levels; (3) utilize and build upon the existing network of state fishing licensing systems for efficiency and ease of availability to the angling public, and (4) provide for federal access to such data to improve recreational harvest statistics. Factsheet: Applications, Benefits and Constituent Views on Marine Recreational Fishing Licenses: A Survey of U.S. Coastal States [PDF]

Background

Identifying a more reliable way of collecting information about recreational anglers and funding coastal fisheries management is critical to establishing and maintaining quality sport fishing experiences. Establishing saltwater fishing licenses in all states and standardizing the data collected will provide better data on recreational harvest, increase funding for fisheries management, and improve management decisions at state and federal levels. Perhaps most important will be the enhanced recognition of the critical role that recreational anglers play in marine conservation and the economic benefits that they generate.

State-based systems are preferable to a national registry of recreational anglers because they take advantage of an existing network of licensing systems already familiar to most anglers and prevent the federal government from establishing a potentially costly and duplicative national registry. In addition, state licenses ensure that fees paid go right back into managing the resources and providing recreational enhancements.

Any new marine policy should encourage the creation of state-based saltwater fishing licenses that provide consistent information to base data collection on recreational fishing activity and establish a national registry of recreational anglers only for federal waters adjacent to states with no saltwater registration process in place.

Completing the Network

Thirteen of 23 U.S. coastal states require some form of recreational saltwater fishing license, and North Carolina will join the group in 2007. Requirements vary among states, but in a survey of state marine fisheries management agencies, 78 percent of nine responding coastal states have or will soon have the ability to sample license holders. None of the states felt that the current system to survey recreational anglers, the National Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS), was adequate in its current form to meet current management requirements. Most felt that a national registry of anglers should not be required in addition to existing state licenses. Having a complete network of state-based licenses will make quality and comparable information about recreational catch and effort much easier to obtain for both state and federal management purposes.

Show me the Money

Saltwater fishing license revenues in large states like Florida can provide more than $17 million annually for marine fisheries management, and even smaller states can benefit substantially from revenues in the one to three million dollar range. But it is not the state that profits from these licenses. Every state surveyed reported that the existence of a saltwater fishing license improved their agencies' ability to manage marine resources and support angling opportunities because the revenues from license sales were dedicated for resource management, enforcement and enhancement programs.

Additionally, licensing could affect the amount of federal Sportfish Restoration funding that state receives each year. Sportfish Restoration funding, which comes from taxes on fishing gear and motorboat fuel, is allocated to state fisheries agencies based upon a formula that factors the water area and number of licensed anglers in each state. Generally, greater numbers of licensed anglers mean more federal dollars for sportfish management and enhancement.

With that much money going to conservation, good things happen for recreational anglers — states can directly attribute the sustainable status of once-overfished species, such as Red Drum and Spotted Sea Trout, to the quality research and management that license funding enables. And in a separate survey of sportfishing organizations, 81 percent agreed that existing licensing programs improved fish conservation.

Supporting the Cause

Eighty-nine percent of responding states felt that recreational anglers in their state were supportive of their saltwater licenses. That is probably because licenses provide another important thing to anglers — a seat at the table. More than three-quarters of states interviewed have a formal process for anglers to participate in management decisions. And four out of five sportfishing organizations say that they have greater influence over marine fisheries decisions as a result of licensing.

A Licensing Case Study

When the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources was looking for feedback on its saltwater fishing programs, it was able to tap into its database of license holders for an angler survey. The survey, completed in 2005, gave the Marine Resources Division comprehensive information on the species for which anglers fished, the number of trips they took, their catch and release behavior, and much more. The survey even asked about possible regulation and bag limit changes and was able to gauge interest in different management alternatives.

More important to the agency was the well-deserved pat on the back that it received. Ninety percent of respondents were very or somewhat satisfied with their fishing experience off the coast of South Carolina and 78 percent were very or somewhat satisfied with the Marine Resources Division. Three-quarters of active anglers said that saltwater fishing opportunities and the division's management of the saltwater fisheries resources in South Carolina were excellent or good. And because the survey was based on a random sample of more than 1,500 anglers who were known to have fished in the last two years, the results gave the agency the solid information it needed to move forward with its programs. Source: Responsive Management "South Carolina Saltwater Anglers' Participation in and Satisfaction with Saltwater Fishing and Opinions on Saltwater Fisheries Management."