NC Saltwater Fishing license --- Big $$$$ - The Hull Truth

Hawkeye · 12-23-2005, 11:45 AM

What a crock, cant get a rec boat license to cover all aboard. 30$ a head for out of state is on the high side IMO. What does everyone else think?

http://www.ncdmf.net/recreational/NCCRFLtypes.htm

Annual License
State Residents*, age 16 or older - $15
Nonresidents, age 16 or older - $30

10-day License
State Residents*, age 16 or older - $5
Nonresidents, age 16 or older - $10

Lifetime CRFL LicensesInfant Lifetime: younger than one year - $100
Youth Lifetime: age 1 through age 11 - $150
Resident Adult*: age 12 through age 64 - $250
Nonresident Adult: age 12 and older - $500
Resident Elderly: age 65 and older - $15
Resident Disabled Veteran: 50 percent or more disabled - $10
Resident Totally Disabled: totally and permanently disabled - $10

Wildlife Resources Commission Lifetime Sportsman License holders are exempt from purchasing the CRFL if they purchased their license prior to Jan. 1, 2006.

Blanket Licenses (optional)
For-Hire: six or less passengers - $250, more than six passengers - $350
Ocean Fishing Pier: $4 per linear foot

Unified Sportsman and Hunting and Fishing Licenses

Resident Unified Sportsman/Coastal Recreational Fishing License* - $55
Resident Unified Inland/Coastal Recreational Fishing License* - $35
Infant Lifetime: younger than one year - $275
Youth Lifetime: age 1 through age 11 - $450
Resident Adult*: age 12 through age 64 - $675
Nonresident Adult: age 12 and older - $1,350
Resident Elderly: age 65 and older - $30
Resident Disabled Veteran: 50 percent or more disabled - $110
Resident Totally Disabled: totally and permanently disabled - $110

Lifetime Unified Inland/Coastal Recreational Fishing Licenses
Unified Inland/Coastal Recreational Fishing License - $450
Resident Legally Blind Unified Inland/Coastal Recreational Fishing License – No charge
Resident Adult Care Home Unified Inland/Coastal Recreational Fishing License – No charge
Resident Subsistence Unified Inland/Coastal Recreational Fishing License Waiver – No charge

thubert57 · 12-23-2005, 11:51 AM

I have to agree that a boat license is needed. Heck, in VA it used to be 30 or 35 for a boat license.

BoatP2Lee · 12-23-2005, 04:07 PM

South Carolina doesn't have a rec. boat license either.

Libra · 12-23-2005, 04:31 PM

Doesn't make sense for a small "guide/charter" (6passenger max) boat to pay $250, when a head boat that may take 100 people/day only pays $100 more......?? Duh.

Also, my understanding is that if you have fishing gear on board, everyone must have a license, fishing or not.

saltydawgrods · 12-23-2005, 04:59 PM

Until NC recognizes that the bulk of its revenue from fishing comes from recreational fishing of this kind and protects the fishery, they should not be allowed to charge for it. Florida can because they have decided to cash in on the recreational fishing industry and giving back the revenue to make it a viable resource. The result is that in Florida a shmuck from out of state can go wet a line in unkown waters and catch trophy snook and redfish, while in NC, the same out-of-state shmuck gets his trophy skate... They are two different leagues and should not be ably to charge the same rates.

SpaceMan · 12-24-2005, 12:22 AM

Salty, I'd say it depends on who the schmuch goes fishing with as to whether he'll catch fish in NC, or in Florida for that matter--at least until he learns the area. There's plenty of good fishing for lots of species--if you know a little bit about fishing or if you go with someone who does.

I don't understand your argument. One purpose for these licenses is to generate funds to do the research to help ensure the protection of and improvement of our fisheries. I'm pretty sure we're the only state that hasn't had a saltwater license until now. Should we wait until our fisheries are depleted before we start charging folks to support such a valuable resource? Fishermen are the users. What's wrong with a user fee? And are you suggesting that we NC fishermen should pay to support the fishery so out-of-state fishermen can come in and take advantage of it?

Besides, what's the beef with paying $10 for a non-resident license for ten days. Five years ago I paid $10 for a three-day license in Mississippi. Seemed fair to me then. I'd say our non-resident license is a bargain.

My 2 cents worth.

Libra · 12-24-2005, 01:10 AM

Wasn't this Bill passed on the last day of session, in the eleventh hour so folks could go home, and tired of dealing with it? I think so. My opinion, FWIW, is that it finally passed because NC was supposedly the only s/e coastal state that didn't require a license. The rec. cost isn't really an issue, but just wait until you get a ticket for having a fishing rod on the boat, but all you're doing is going to a waterside bar and you passengers don't have a license. I sure hope I'm wrong with my understanding, but thats the way I read it.

Yellow Fin · 12-24-2005, 07:08 AM

Say I purchase a boat license for 250 and then one day want to fish with a friend on his boat. Do I now need a personal license or am I covered with the boat license?

saltydawgrods · 12-24-2005, 07:29 AM

I agree wholeheartedly (I was actually being sarcastic) that if we do not start to value our recreational fishermen by allowing them (whether they are from NC or out of state) to support the fishery through revenues from licenses, the fishery will continue to decline. This fishery measure should be coupled with a plan to protect the fishery. This state has made a huge mistake in its attempt to keep commercial fishermen and their traditions satisfied while still keeping up a facade of being a world-class inshore fishery. I just don't know what it will take for this state's fishery management to wake up like every other coastal state in the nation.

My point about Florida is that they have improved their fishery so much that you do not HAVE to be an insider with a lot of local area knowledge to catch fish... the ecosystem is healthy and stocks are good. A fisherman with a knowledge of fishing can catch fish without knowing all of the "secret spots." But in NC, we have bastardized the inshore fishery and depleted the stocks to the point that a father coming from, say, Jersy with his six year old son does not have a very good chance of just setting up and catching a quality fish unless he pays for a charter.

BoatP2Lee · 12-24-2005, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Yellow Fin - 12/24/2005 7:08 AM

Say I purchase a boat license for 250 and then one day want to fish with a friend on his boat. Do I now need a personal license or am I covered with the boat license?

To answer your question Yellowfin, YES. Unless your friend has a boat license too. In which case, you would be HIS charter and thereby covered by his license.

BoatP2Lee · 12-24-2005, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Libra - 12/24/2005 1:10 AM

Wasn't this Bill passed on the last day of session, in the eleventh hour so folks could go home, and tired of dealing with it? I think so. My opinion, FWIW, is that it finally passed because NC was supposedly the only s/e coastal state that didn't require a license. The rec. cost isn't really an issue, but just wait until you get a ticket for having a fishing rod on the boat, but all you're doing is going to a waterside bar and you passengers don't have a license. I sure hope I'm wrong with my understanding, but thats the way I read it.

Yeah Libra. The original bill was passed at the eleventh hour a couple of years ago. And they, themselves, admitted that as passed, the bill was total unworkable. It's taken two years of haggling, a good portion of which was over who got the opportunity to steal the money, before they were able to come up with what we have today, which ain't all that bad as I see it compared to what we have in South Carolina.

The only major differences in the two states that I see are:
1. In NC, if you have a Lifetime Soportsman License purchased before 1/1/06, your exempt. Which is good.
2. In NC there are 3 groups trying to steal the money, the Wildlife Recourses Comm, the Marine Recourses Comm, and the General Assembly. In SC there are only 2, the Department of Natural Recourses, and the General Assembly. Either way the money gets stolen. Score this one a tie...
3. In NC the license is required even if you're fishing from the bank. License is not needed in SC for bank fishing. Score this one as a negative.
4. In NC, if you go to the trouble to get the right paperwork prooving that you're poor and fishing for subsistance, you can be exempted. Not so in SC. Fish from a boat, and it's still required no matter how poor you may be. Score this one a positive.
5. Enforcement. In NC, you've got two crowd to worry about. The Wildlife Department, which is only worried about boat registrations and life jackets, ets, and could care less what you have in your cooler, and the Marine Recourses bunch which is only worried about what you have in your cooser, and could care less about boat registration and safety. Too confusing to even post a score on this one.

And that's about it, as I see it.

fish factory · 12-24-2005, 08:14 AM

Anyone remember how this crap started? The licence was gonna be only $5.00/year. "Just a way to count the rec. fishermen"

Yeah Right.

Buy the way, you must have a licence to throw a cast net off your own property.

Hawkeye · 12-24-2005, 08:05 PM

What is needed is a rec boat license so the people comming down on the red eye to fish a day or 2 dont have to worry anout getting a 10 day license in the morning. Lots of Va guys take many different people out through out the year. Seems like they would of followed Va and Md in this area. I feel for the family's visiting for a week that have to fork out all that money to catch a croaker or 2 in the surf.

Shag · 12-24-2005, 08:18 PM

BoatP2Lee, the same thing is going to happen in NC with the General Assembly trying to take all the money they can. They don't actually "take" the money as the law gives specific proportions to various sectors. What they do is to reduce their funding and let the new tax (license fee if you are naive) fill the void. Kinda like the lottery. Anybody want to bet that school funding gets reduced to create a void that the lottery will fill?

BoatP2Lee · 12-24-2005, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Shag - 12/24/2005 8:18 PM

BoatP2Lee, the same thing is going to happen in NC with the General Assembly trying to take all the money they can. They don't actually "take" the money as the law gives specific proportions to various sectors. What they do is to reduce their funding and let the new tax (license fee if you are naive) fill the void. Kinda like the lottery. Anybody want to bet that school funding gets reduced to create a void that the lottery will fill?

It seems to have happened to our lottery mony too. And ours is even called " The South Carolina EDUCATION Lottery" It's taking in gozzilions of dollars, and yet the local school districts are still curtailing activities and programs for lack of money, and begging for increased millage on local property taxes.

fishjar · 12-25-2005, 02:34 PM

I was so upset at the license requirement that I went and bought a Lifetime Sportsman License.

Don't you just hate having to pay for something. I thought the goverment was supposed to make everything free, fix all our problems and oh yeh absolve us from all our sins. At least that's what I'm teaching my kids.

How bout y'all.

BoatP2Lee · 12-26-2005, 07:49 AM

Quote:

fishjar - 12/25/2005 2:34 PM

I was so upset at the license requirement that I went and bought a Lifetime Sportsman License.

Don't you just hate having to pay for something. I thought the goverment was supposed to make everything free, fix all our problems and oh yeh absolve us from all our sins. At least that's what I'm teaching my kids.

How bout y'all.

You're from the wrong segment of the population for that.....

Peregrine · 01-02-2006, 01:39 PM

I'm about to go down to the tackle store and pay $42.00 for my resident license here in California....then get a non-res NC license for my trips there, and ~$45.00 for my Mexican license, plus ~$250.00 in Mexican permits and insurance. I'd say it's not big a part of the hobby.

Jeff