OpEd: Unified Fishing License Would Integrate Proposed Saltwater License With Existing Freshwater License

By Margaret Martin

[Editor’s Note: This column has been reprinted from the April 2005 issue of Wildlife in North Carolina, the official monthly educational publication of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. For subscription information, call toll-free (866) 945-3746, or subscribe online.]

We have received a number of letters from readers concerned about the saltwater fishing license approved by the N.C. General Assembly last year. Legislators left the details to be worked out this spring. Among them are resident and nonresident fees, the time period of licenses and potential enforcement problems.

But what alarms letter writers most is the status of lifetime licenses. Brett Cothren of Millers Creek wrote, “I am shocked and upset to discover that my lifetime hunting and fishing license will not cover saltwater fishing from the shore. … If lifetime license holders allow legislators to implement this new license and erode the privilege that we purchased, what will be next?”

Given the decades of experience of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission with inland fishing licenses, the director of the commission, Richard Hamilton, has conferred with key legislators and with Preston Pate, director of the Division of Marine Fisheries, the agency responsible for administering the saltwater license program.

Hamilton is concerned that 100,000 lifetime license holders may have an understanding that their lifetime fishing licenses would cover all fishing, freshwater and salt, in North Carolina.

“The pledge was made in good faith, and we are committed to representing their interests,” Hamilton said. “The commission favors grandfathering in the lifetime license program to include saltwater fishing privileges in North Carolina.”

Hamilton thinks that the concept of saltwater licensing is sound. “Licenses can generate data and information to help manage the marine fisheries,” he said. “They can also provide the financial resources needed to conserve vital habitat.”

But he thinks the interface of a saltwater license with existing freshwater licenses is very important. To work efficiently, the saltwater license program must be simple and consistent with the freshwater license program. Hamilton says the commission could integrate saltwater license sales with the existing licensing system if a unified license approach is adopted.

Return to Top

Return to News/Press Releases

NC Wildlife Home