Would you buy a fishing license just to hunt lionfish?

[Carol202]

How much money are we talking about? Especially for an out-of-stater.

Richard.

$17 a year for resident or $79 for 5 years

$47 a year for non-resident
$17 for 3 days for non-resident
$30 for 7 days for non-resident

Thanks for chiming in. Carol

 

[Frank Jig]

A lot of floridians like me buy a fishing license anyway, so for my groups of friends, it is a non-issue.

Having said that, I think that for non-residents who just want to come down and just shoot lionfish, I say give them a free permit, downloadable right from the internet.

I would also remove the 100lb limit. That's not very logical. If florida was serious about it, they should put a bounty on lionfish.

 

[Carol202]

A lot of floridians like me buy a fishing license anyway, so for my groups of friends, it is a non-issue.

Having said that, I think that for non-residents who just want to come down and just shoot lionfish, I say give them a free permit, downloadable right from the internet.

I'm also one of those Floridians that "buy a fishing license anyway", which is why I asked the question. On one hand I agree with you about letting people pop the lionfish without a license, but on the other hand, I think they need some kind of permit. They should at least be required to review the spearfishing regs before getting a permit because as Bob DBF pointed out, there are a lot of rules. I know that's no guarantee that they will follow the regulations, but at least they can be held responsible for following rules, especially when the safety of others may be involved. Make sense?

 

[Pudsky]

Yes, I would purchase a fishing license if I were to just kill lionFISH. Here in MN, even if you are not actually fishing, you cannot touch or have anything to do with the act of fishing unless you have a fishing license. In my opinion, handling a spear while on a boat or in the water, even if not actually in the act of spearing a fish would require a fishing license. Small price to pay to kill any wildlife, keeping them or not.

 

[mattpatton]

I don't think you should have to have a license to kill an invasive species, but it's a necessary evil. If they didn't require a license, every empty handed spearo would say to the warden, "Oh no, I'm just looking for LionFish, that's why there's no fish on the boat. Haven't seen any yet." I think FrankJig has the perfect idea! Kudos!

While duck hunting in NC, Game Wardens have told us in the past that if a Camera Man comes on a duck hunt or turkey hunt, he cannot touch or handle the guns, duck calls, or decoys unless he has a license and duck stamp. He can't even help hand you the decoys to setup. If we were to bring a dog handler to help retrieve birds, he also is required to have a license because his dog is considered part of the bird retrieval process. If you handled a speargun without a license, I'm sure it depends on which Fish and Game Officer you run into. Just gotta hope he's in a good mood.....and met his quota for the day.

 

[Carol202]

Thanks Matt. Good input and examples.
Carol

 

[haumana ronin]

I don't think I would. I shoot them and leave them as dinner for the other fish. This is a public service akin to picking up trash on the trails when we're out in the Jeep.

In some places in the US, this too is a permit-required activity.

I ran into a similar problem when I wanted to organize an effort to remove an invasive exotic seaweed from Asia that had taken over our waters. The permitting process for that was about 4 months. This seaweed has substantially altered our ecosystems in just a short few years after it was initially discovered on our coast in 2003.

An attempt to raise revenue off of the helpful nature of some concerned citizens?

:zen:

 

[Scuba Scott]

I can tell you I certainly would not buy an out of state license just to kill lionfish. If they are as much of a problem as everyone claims then I think I should be paid to kill them or at the very least I should be able to get a free limited fishing license.

I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with some type of regulation or permitting process to kill lionfish. There should be some way to know the divers you are setting loose with a spear and a license to kill at least know what a lionfish looks like. A quick and free online training program and exam that prints a permit on completion would be the way to go.

(Of course you can get a regular fishing license and not have to know anything.)

 

[BVickery]

(Of course you can get a regular fishing license and not have to know anything.)

Try claiming ignorance with some Game Wardens. I rode with a few and they were hardest on those who very much claimed ignorance of the game/fishing laws.

 

[scubacheeze]

If I had no interest in hunting anything else, I still would probably get a license just to shoot lionfish. Great target practice, and you're helping out your spearfishing spot!

However, I think if you don't have a license you should be able to just get a free permit (as was mentioned), that way if you do get pulled over with no fish you can show you looked into the rules and are following them.