Feds want to license saltwater anglers next year

[jpak]

http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/5145743.html

The federal government wants the nation's saltwater anglers to be licensed starting next year as part of an effort to get a more accurate count of recreational fishermen and the amount of fish they catch.

The initiative is aimed at eight states in particular, including Maine and the others in coastal New England, that currently do not license saltwater anglers.

The program would apply to anglers who fish in federal waters, which begin three miles off shore, as well as the intertidal zone for anadromous species, including striped bass, salmon, alewife shad and smelt. Anadromous fish spawn in rivers and streams and spend their adult lives in estuaries and the ocean.

The initiative will be met with opposition in Maine where many fishermen view saltwater fishing as "the last true freedom in America," according to George Lapointe, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

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