I posted the bill as soon as it was emailed to me so I havent had a chance to fully understand it. I will make some calls tomorrow to get a smart guy to help explain it to me.
It appears as if DNR wants to set the number of entries. Either way, I guarantee the MCBA and the MWA will not be happy. However, I personally an not sure what to think. I need some time to consider it. It could stand to hurt the full-time guys on both sides the most if it expands the number of participants, especially the watermen. (a good full time charter guy will likely remain busy). While I have adovcated for reallocation and gear restrictions, I am not sure it would be good to put an influx of part-time watermen in the market for those that truely make a living on the water. It likely would also cause more violations and enforcement issues. However, like I said, I dont understand the bill as of yet and the additional licenses may be sold to existing watermen first. I just dont know at this point, especially since I put this post up immediately after someone emailing me the bill.
Last edited by B-Faithful; 02-22-2012 at 06:36 PM.
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