A pretense to collect money: That's one simple reason
behind the federal government's new registry for recreational fishermen, skeptical Long Island anglers said yesterday.
A nominal fee the government might eventually impose for the registry "is not going to break you," said Nick Parini, 52, who sells bait, tackle and gas at the Bay Shore Marina, "but where does it end?"
He added: "The best thing about Long Island is the ocean."
The sentiment was echoed by others who like to fish and are unaccustomed to a lot of regulation, other than season dates and catch limits.
Captain George Bartenback, 55, of Babylon, aboard the Captain Rod at Captree State Park, said the pastime is being whipsawed by the economy and regulation.
"The prices are so high with fuel, it's getting impossible to do business. You know, with the fishing regulations for New York, we have the strictest around."
Bartenback said he'd feel better about the new registry if he were sure the data and fees collected from anglers would be used to improve the maritime business management in New York State.
"You want to see it go back into the industry, where it does some good," he said.
Other Long Islanders said there wasn't much officials could say to make them fans of the registry.
"Oh, God. I've heard the rumors," Diane Cammarata, 75, of Port Jefferson Station, said Thursday. "It's going to kill the industry."
Cammarata was taking a stroll with her visiting grandson, Mike Kennedy, 17, of upstate Copake, by boats docked at Captree State Park. She said she would go fishing only to accompany him.
"For one or two days a year, I have to get a license?" she said, her voice dripping with incredulity.
Whatever happens with the license, she added, there will always be only so many fish in the ocean.
"He's visiting 10 days, and he hasn't caught a fish yet," Cammarata said of her grandson. "License or no license."
