Sen. Donut: Nix FL Fishing Licenses

When I saw this headline – “State senator wants to get rid of Florida fishing licenses” – I thought it was a joke. I mean, I know there’s some inverse common sense requirement for being a politician, but come on.

Do I need to mention that Florida gets a boatload of license revenue from its own residents and from fishing tourists? And that even though that’s the case, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is underfunded, as are the other 49 state F&G agencies?

Doesn’t matter. Sen. Donut is on the case!

Highlights from this article and another:

> State Sen. Joe Negron (R-Stuart) is sponsoring a bill that would eliminate the state’s freshwater and saltwater fishing licenses.

> “I don’t believe a citizen should have to get written permission from the government and pay a fee to throw a couple of fishing poles in a truck and head to the beach,” Negron said. “That’s an intrusion into what is a common activity in Florida.

> “The question is why do we have fishing licenses? The burden of proof is with the people who want to hassle and annoy citizens by requiring written permission from the government.”

[Seriously, he said that. And he wasn’t done.]

> Negron also said fishing licenses create extra work for Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission law enforcement officers. “FWC is an important state agency,” he said. “They have a lot better things to do than approaching citizens to check their paperwork.”

> FWC estimates that eliminating fishing licenses would mean a loss of $32 million — $23 million from saltwater licenses and $9 million from freshwater licenses.

> Another estimated $13 million would be lost from the federal Sport Fish Restoration Act. Money for the program comes from federal excise taxes on fishing gear, fuel and electric motors. Through that program, states compete for federal money based on the size of the state and the number of licensed fishermen.

> Ted Forsgren, the executive director of Florida’s Coastal Conservation Association, said Thursday he is “adamantly opposed” to the bill and relying on general revenue when so many other agencies are fighting for the same dollars. “That’s why we passed the license in the first place,” Forsgren said. “Because they weren’t getting money from the general revenue.”

> “This legislation is the worst imaginable idea for the future of Florida’s outdoors,” said Karl Wickstrom, founder and editor of Florida Sportsman magazine. “Fishing licenses support all kinds of research and law enforcement and bring in more than $10 million in federal money that would go to Texas, California and other states.”

That’s an understatement, Karl. It is just friggin’ dumb. Sic this senator guy on a real problem: