Local victory a loss for anglers

To the adage, be careful what you wish for, let's add: Be careful what you fish for. Seven towns on Long Island sued the state to block a new saltwater fishing license, and they won. But that victory has a catch - it will cost anglers money.

It all began when the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy found that recreational anglers were catching a lot more of some fish, including striped bass, than commercial fishers were. To prevent overfishing, it called for better data collection than just dockside surveys and random phone calls in coastal communities. Its idea: saltwater licenses.

In 2006, Congress acted on that, requiring a national recreational fishing registry. States could opt out if they set up their own system. New York did, requiring a $10 annual license fee. The towns sued, asserting jurisdiction over their own waters, based on Colonial patents.

The barbed hook in their victory is that people fishing off those towns for species such as striped bass must now pay a $15 federal fee - not the $10 state fee. The $15 goes to Washington; the $10 would have stayed in New York.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation wasn't blameless; its license system got off to a rocky start. But it should appeal this ruling vigorously, to uphold its own fee - for the good of the state, the fisheries and the anglers. hN