Fishing Licensing Exams?

[MuskieBait]

Wow! There are certainly some conflicted wishes here...

First, people think there is a need for enforcement, but then they don't want "big brother" to watch over you. Enforcement IS using the "big brother" to watch over you. They cannot tell if you are fishing legally or not until they come to check you out. So on one hand you want peace and quiet while fishing, but the CO's should not come to bother you or care what you are doing. Hm...

Next, people want enforcement but fishing should be a right and there should not be additional fees or license. Last time I checked, people don't work for free and gas is $1.30/L. All of that cost has to come from somewhere. The fairest way is to "tax" a user fee with licenses. Thus the fishing licenses that we pay for support enforcement, stocking, rehabilitation and other related programs to maintain our natural resources. There is only so much tax money, and truthfully, I don't want the government to take my health and education money from my tax to pay something else that is not intended for that use (eg. building skateboard park...because I would never use it). Similarly, you cannot ask for the general public to use THEIR tax money to pay for YOUR fishing enforcement and fishing programs. They do not partake in fishing...you do...so if you want more, you gotta pay for it. No one works for free...I'm sure you don't. Volunteers and charity programs only goes so far. Other people have their own lives too.

Like I said, a lot of new immigrants do not have a shred of fishing conservation and ethics concepts because these concepts are not the norm within their countries. Some friends of mine from other countries (Asia, South America, Africa...etc) ask me why I catch fish and let them go...because to them, fishing is all about catching and eating...fishing is a means of survival...and in an impoverished country, if you have a big catch today, you would keep it all since you don't know how the next day would unfold. That is their survival mentality. We have our own sports and leisure fishing mentality. We can't completely fault them for it, but at the same time, we do need to let them know Canada has its own rules and regulations to follow. Similarly, in some parts of rural Canada, fish and wildlife is still a big part of the daily diet for first nations and non-first nations. That survival concept also runs deep. But that is also no excuse to allow keeping over limit.

Education programs will not come for free...unless we want to volunteer in programs to educate the current and future generations (ie...the Toronto Urban Fishing Ambassadors who just had an event yesterday at High Park to educate school children on this topic). If you want a wider reach, you need the government to get involved and use a blanket system (because otherwise, it will be considered as discrimination...I love being Canadian...). In order to do so, you need additional money in the coffers to do so...and if you want increased enforcement, you need more revenue from licensing...it's really just that simple.

Yes, in Canada, fishing is a right...or so many would like to think so. In many other countries, fishing is a privilege. In Europe, most areas are either privately owned with ridiculous club fees or public waters where licensing fees are very expensive. Fishing there certainly a privilege because only the "privileged" few can afford to fish there. In Bhutan, you can be executed if you fished in "Royal River" that is reserved for the royalty and their friends.