DNREC Fisheries to Hold Aug. 27 Public Hearing on State Fisherman Registry Regulations
August 17, 2008
The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control will hold a public hearing regarding proposed new regulations that would establish state fisherman registries at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 27 in the DNREC Auditorium, Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover. The new regulations would go into effect Jan. 1, 2009.
In order to improve upon present means of determining recreational catch and effort in marine waters, Congress authorized the National Marine Fisheries Service to compile a nationwide registry of all anglers fishing in saltwater beginning in 2009 and to begin charging for participation in this registry as of 2011. According to existing federal plans, fees generated by this program will be deposited in the federal treasury and not returned to the states.
“These proposed additions to Delaware’s tidal and non-tidal fishing regulations will allow us to meet these new federal requirements, with no additional cost to our anglers,” said DNREC Fisheries Section Administrator Roy Miller. “The federal National Marine Fisheries Service has been tasked to identify saltwater anglers for survey purposes. If we can provide a complete registry of Delaware’s marine recreational fishermen from our state-issued fishing license program, our anglers will be exempt from participating in the federal registry and federal license fees.”
Delaware Code currently requires a general fishing license to fish in tidal and non-tidal waters, and license applications contain most of the information needed for a state registry, with one important exception. “Under the new regulations, the first question we would ask our license applicants is ‘fresh, salt or both?’ Presently we have no way to determine this, and the Fisheries Service is only looking for saltwater angler information,” Miller said.
A complete registry would also need to include Delaware saltwater anglers who are not legally required to have a fishing license, or National Marine Fisheries would classify Delaware as non-exempt. Current Delaware fishing license regulations allow the holder of a recreational boat license to take any number of non-licensed anglers with them on the licensed vessel, and therefore these unlicensed anglers would not be included in a database of Delaware anglers. In addition, resident senior citizens age 65 and older also are exempt from Delaware recreational fishing license requirements.
Therefore, to avoid a federal determination that Delaware is a non-exempt state, the proposed regulation will establish a state-level registration process, to be known as the F.I.N number (Fisherman Information Network), for all anglers fishing in Delaware.
The new regulation would require all prospective Delaware anglers age 16 or older, licensed or not, to obtain a F.I.N number on an annual basis before fishing in Delaware waters. This requirement is similar to a federal registration system known as the Hunter Information Program (H.I.P.) for all who intend to hunt migratory birds.
The F.I.N. number would be available at no cost to anglers by calling a toll free number or by providing requested information online. Anglers would be asked for their name, address, phone number and whether they intend to fish in freshwater, tidal water or both. Each person who requests a F.I.N. number should write this number on his or her Delaware fishing license, or for those who are legally unlicensed, be able to produce this number when asked by an authorized enforcement agent.
Both the website address and toll-free number would be advertised and made readily available to all Delaware anglers.
Once all Delaware fishermen have obtained a F.I.N. number and the National Marine Fisheries Service has a copy of Delaware’s saltwater angler registry, Delaware will be exempt from the federal marine recreational fishing registry and charges.
Individuals may present opinions and evidence either at the public hearing or in writing to Lisa Vest, Hearing Officer, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901 or via e-mail to Lisa [dot] Vest [at] state [dot] de [dot] us
. The hearing record will remain open for written or e-mail comments until 4:30 p.m. Aug. 31, 2008.
For more information, please contact the Division of Fish and Wildlife, Fisheries Section, at 302-739-3441.
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Proposed Regulation Protecting Bald Eagles to Be Workshop Topic on May 28
May 22, 2008
The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife will hold a public workshop on a proposed new regulation to protect bald eagles at 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 28 in the DNREC Auditorium, Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover. A public hearing on the proposed regulation will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 4 in the same location.
“Bald eagles are very sensitive to disturbance, which may result in failure of nests or abandonment of nest sites, and, according to scientific studies in the region, require significant no-disturbance buffers around their nests,” said Division Zoologist Christopher Heckscher, noting that in Delaware, the acreage of development in proximity to current nest sites is proposed to double in the next five years.
Delaware Code currently protects eagles from disturbance but does not define disturbance. The new regulation proposes to adopt the same level of protection to eagle nest sites that was formerly provided under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 prior to the eagle’s removal from the federal Endangered Species List in August 2007.
“In recent year, bald eagles have made a tremendous comeback from the brink of extinction, which led to their removal from the federal Endangered Species List. However, in order ensure their future and to maintain their numbers, they still need our protection,” said Karen Bennett, Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program Manager.
The proposed regulation is available for public inspection at the Division’s Wildlife Section office in the Richardson & Robbins Building, 89 Kings Highway, Dover. For more information, please contact Karen Bennett at 302-739-9912 or Christopher Heckscher at 302-653-2880.
Citizens may address written comments on the proposed regulation to the Wildlife Section, Division of Fish and Wildlife, 4876 Hay Point Landing Road, Smyrna, DE 19977, or email comments to karen [dot] bennett [at] state [dot] de [dot] us or christopher [dot] heckscher [at] state [dot] de [dot] us, or to DNREC Hearing Officer Lisa Vest at lisa [dot] vest [at] state [dot] de [dot] us. The record will remain open for written comments until 4:30 p.m. Saturday, June 14.
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