More on Federal Registry vs Saltwater license
 

Well the RI situation is getting more and more interesting and in less
than twenty four hours to boot.

The Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization and Amendment Act of 2007
required that states create a system by which sal****er anglers have
to register information, by survey, for catches. In theory, this
would allow for more accurate sampling of catch data. A normal
procedure would be through a license system and that's what most
states have done - so far that is.

The Federal Registry, which costs the angler $25, is not a license.
Several states have been under the impression that the Federal
Registry is a license - it's not. It does nothing other than put your
contact information into the Federal reporting system for fisheries as
a recreational angler. It does not give you any rights to fish in
sal****er within state waters - or Federal waters for that matter.

The MSRAA alsorequires states that do have a sal****er license
structure to change that structure to conform to Federal requirements.
Chatter seems to indicate that RI's Governor Carcieri has opened a can
of worms with his rejection of Rhode Island's license - Mass has
indicated that the monies wil be designated to the General Fund under
the states rights clause Carcieri used as his basis for rejection
instead of to the state's fisheries as mandated.

The states that have boat licenses, which are not part of the Federal
mandate requirements, are balking (as I understand it) and in CT,
Governor Rell's veto, which was over ridden by the Legislature, is now
reentering the conversation apparently.

This could prove to be a couple of interesting months with regards to
the recreational fishing scene.