UPDATE: Thiele: Saltwater Fishing License Will Be Repealed Under State Budget

A controversial New York State saltwater fishing license will be repealed under the new state budget, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. announced Thursday.

Thiele, I-Sag Harbor, said the state legislature has reached an agreement to replace the license law, which was enacted in 2009, with a registration requirement that would conform to federal law.

Under the agreement, registration would be free for the next two years and those who had purchased lifetime licenses will be granted a refund, minus the fee for the past year. A lifetime license is $150 and an annual license is $10.

 “The idea of a saltwater fishing license was ill-conceived from the outset,” Thiele wrote statement to the press. “Not only was it a tax on one of the fundamental rights that Long Island residents have had since colonial times, but it was a burden to the recreational fishing industry at a time when the recession was taking its toll on the local economy. This action will send a message that the state recognizes that the right to fish should be free and that recreational fishing is a critical part of the Long Island economy.”

Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst lauded the repeal. “This is outstanding news that means a great deal to our local fishing industry,” she said in a written statement to the press. “More importantly, though, it restores the basic and invaluable right to fish local waters that our residents have held and protected for generations.” 

State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, R-Port Jefferson, who represents and East End and points west, saud in a press statement Thursday, “I voted against the license law and fee when it was part of the 2009 budget and am happy to see the demise of what was essentially a hidden tax."

The agreement must still be ratified in the state budget, Thiele noted. It is expected to be approved by April 1.

Southampton and East Hampton towns sued the state over the fee, along with Shelter Island, Brookhaven, Southold, Huntington and Oyster Bay. Joseph Lombardo, the senior assistant town attorney in Southampton, served as lead counsel for the plaintiffs.

At the heart of Southampton's challenge is the Dongan Patent, a 1686 Colonial land grant protecting the right to fish in town waters. Officials argued that the license law was a money grab by the state that eroded the towns’ authority over their local waters.

A state supreme court judge ruled in the towns’ favor in December, but it only struck down the fee in the seven plaintiff towns. The license would still be required elsewhere in the state, and the Department of Environmental Conservation vowed to challenge the judge’s decision.

In a release from U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer's office Thursday, the senator applauded the lifting of the license fee on Long Island anglers and said he would work to revise the federal reporting requirements that the license rose out of.

"Angler reporting requirement shouldn’t be a burden on the back of New York fishermen,” Schumer said.  “I will continue to push a permanent fix so that we are not forced to revisit this issue two years from now.”