A recent report in The Boston Globe revealed that the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration is spending $75,000 to pay folks in Massachusetts to give up their recreational salt water fishing licenses, at least temporarily.
It’s part of a survey the agency is conducting to evaluate the “worth” of recreational salt water fishing to those who engage in it, the Globe reported. All told, NOAA has allocated $145,000 to conduct the survey, the brainchild of an agency economist.
Payment for agreeing not to fish ranges from $15 to $500, and the survey asks a variety of questions, including how much the fishermen would be willing to pay for a license. Officials say the data will be helpful in many ways, but NOAA hasn’t exactly earned a lot of trust in these parts lately, at least in the commercial fishing arena.
So whether the concern is about future license fee hikes or possible future limits on recreational fishing in salt water, we can’t blame local anglers for being suspicious.
Meanwhile, we wonder. Is this the kind of bureaucratic initiative that is so critical to running the ship of state that the White House and Democrats in Congress say we have no choice but to raise taxes?
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