Free fishing could be costly

The right to fish for free sounds like a good idea, until you look at the math. In a tight budget year, the State Senate wants to let saltwater anglers fish without paying a fee, money that contributes to protecting marine resources. Other sportsmen, mostly upstate, would still bear that burden.

This is the latest skirmish in a silly war over a minimal fee. The state adopted a $10 annual license, or $150 for life, to comply with a new national recreational fishing registry and to preserve fish for current and future anglers. But Sen. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) wants to repeal it.

The registry's goal was to get better data on the recreational catch, for better fishery management. States can comply, as ours did, by adopting their own licenses.

But seven Island towns sued to stop it, and won, at least until appeals run their course. Now Zeldin wants to kill it legislatively. His bill is in the Senate budget that passed yesterday. Without this fee, New York could lose as much as $5 million to $10 million in license revenue and federal matching funds.

Freshwater anglers would still pay state fees, as they have been all along, helping support conservation. Saltwater anglers would not, but many of them might have to pay a $15 federal fee to comply with the registry. In that case, instead of aiding the state, the money would go to Washington.

So, like many fish tales, free fishing isn't quite true.