Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
Posted on 03/02/2012 9:45:30 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Pat Judge, an avid sport fisherman, has been walking around with a $500 check in his pocket for a week, trying to decide whether to cash it.
That’s because the money comes with a catch: Judge must agree to turn in his $10 recreational saltwater fishing license for the year.
In an unusual experiment being conducted only in Massachusetts, the federal government is surveying anglers to figure out how much it would cost to persuade Judge and 1,899 others not to fish off the coast.
But officials say the purpose is not to actually reduce fishing. Instead, they say, the survey is intended to measure the worth of recreational saltwater fishing to the estimated 1.2 million residents and visitors who do it annually.
The results could be used in variety of ways, officials say, such as to calculate the potential loss to anglers if an oil spill or other environmental disaster halted recreational ocean fishing.....
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has allocated about $145,000 to conduct the survey over the next several months, with about $75,000 allotted for cash offers, said Scott Steinback, a NOAA economist who came up with the idea......
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonglobe.com ...
Alternate theory.. see how much the lic is worth in real dollars and charge that amount later.
Your tax dollars at work
So now they intend to charge 500.00 bucks for the license?!
Ding Ding Ding! We have a Winnah!
Where can I apply for my $10 license? I live in Wisconsin and would gladly accept $500 to not use it.
Ominous.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Give a man a check to quit fishing and you take away liberty.
The article doesn't say how the program will affect all the businesses that cater to the sport-fisherman.
So that $500 goes toward the purchase of the same value in fish dockside from somebody else who decided to forego the money and instead accept the hard work and pleasure of capturing said food. From a fish’s (or a taxpayer’s) point of view I can’t see how this is a winning strategy.
Post two and four are probably correct, they may have other motives but when they see the value placed on the “right’ to fish and hunt they will increase the license fee. I feel sorry for the guy whose number one recreational activity is going down to a pier or saltwayer jetty to fish and his wife, who may think it’s a waste of time, finds out about this. It’s not about the catching or eating, that’s a bonus.
Saltwater fishing has always been a free sport in Massachusetts. They will have to pry my $10 Permit from my cold dead hands.
You nailed it. But in the meantime, expect the percentage of poor black anglers to shoot through the roof.
I’ll not fish there for a year for only $250. They should pay me, since I’m cheaper.
I promise not to fish in Massachusetts, please send me my check.
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
Dang! I’m moving up there and will promise ... daily ... not to go fishing. I’ll be a millionaire in no time!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.