Bill Would Eliminate Florida Fishing Licenses

Senate Bill 744 would not require licenses for residents or nonresidents to fish in the state’s waters.

A controversy has erupted over state fishing licenses in Florida, and it’s not what you might expect. One senator wants to do away with them completely.

Senator Joe Negron (R-Stuart) introduced SB 744, which states that “a recreational freshwater fishing or recreational saltwater fishing license or permit is not required of any resident or nonresident to fish in this state.” The bill would go into effect July 2011.

Many anglers feel that this bill is misguided, and would do much more harm than good. There are a number of benefits from Florida fishing licenses:

• First, fishing licenses help pay for on-the-water law enforcement and fisheries research by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). In fact, countless anglers agree that enforcement often is lax on the water, due to lack of funding.

• Second, the state’s fishing license requirement prevents Florida anglers from having to pay a federal registration fee for the National Saltwater Registry.

• Third, axing state fishing licenses would cut federal matching money received from the Sport Fish Restoration (SFR) Act. Federal matching money is directly correlated to the number of state fishing licenses sold, geographic area, as well as other parameters. 

All the money generated from this program goes directly toward fisheries management, research and conservation. From 2010, the SFR Act brought in about $13.1 million to Florida. See the 2010 breakdown of exactly where federal aid from Sport Fish Restoration contributed.