2/10/12 Update: The original editorial by Mr. Ken Hastings was published here on 2/7/12. Below Mr. Hastings editorial is an editorial response from Maryland Fisheries Director Tom O'Connell dated 2/10/12. Mr. O'Connell requested that the response be published here and is being done with his full permission.
We start the week with guest columnist Ken Hastings.
In 2007, a bill to raise recreational fishing license fees was passed by the General Assembly but no one knows what happened to the money. DNR wanted more money to spend and recreational anglers looked like an easy touch. They weren’t going to complain about paying $10 more for a license to go with their $100,000 boat, trailer, tow vehicle, and fishing gear, especially if it would help improve the sport they loved. To keep the “accountability crowd” at bay, the bill had one of those “shall” (legalese for “not optional”) clauses requiring DNR to annually consult with the Sport Fisheries Advisory Commission on how to spend the revenues.
When the cost recovery train rolled into Annapolis, I realized that I had never witnessed any discussions on how to spend recreational revenues. I also discovered that MD law already required DNR to produce an annual report documenting how the revenues were spent. So I:
1. Sent an email asking where I could find these reports. No response.
2. Sent a registered letter Public Information Act (PIA) request for the information.
3. Received an email saying they were working on my request.
4. Received another email saying they planned to have my information by the “end of the week.”
5. Received yet another email at the “end of the week” saying they didn’t find anything.
Really? Am I supposed to believe that the MD DNR violated State law and never did any consultation or produced any reports? Or should I assume that all of that “working on my request” produced something they didn’t want to share with me? Of course, that last one couldn’t be right because that would be a violation of State law after I played the PIA card and State agencies don’t actually make a habit of that – do they? Perhaps they really thought they would find something and the dog ate their homework? My track record for getting information has actually been pretty good until this request. Something doesn’t smell right.
Here is a plausible scenario for this mess. It isn’t worst case and it can’t possibly be 100% accurate without those reports.
1. The promises to consult and to provide annual reports were just the old “bait and switch” to get the additional fees.
2. The increase in fees was used to replace general fund revenues previously used to help fund recreational fishing – not to improve anything.
3. The “excess” general fund fees went to other programs, including commercial fisheries.
4. The truth will forever be buried in BS.
Maybe you think this is kind of harsh and that there must be other explanations. Feel free to dream up your own scenarios but consider the following “facts” in support of mine:
1. Recreational fisheries exhibit 93% cost recovery from fees alone.
2. Commercial fisheries exhibit 20% cost recovery from fees alone.
3. Since the early ‘90s, revenues from recreational gear purchases had been used to buy tags for the commercial striped bass fishery.
4. Your recreational fishing probably isn’t any better than it was before 2007.
The good news is that the future COULD be looking up. DNR has admitted that the commercial fisheries should be held to a higher cost recovery target and is taking slow baby steps to make that happen. Here is my best case scenario:
1. A 2012 bill COULD force the commercial fishermen to buy their own tags and pay for using a fancy new reporting system.
2. There COULD be a summer study to set cost recovery goals and decide how to attain them. Zero decrease in services would require a five-fold increase in fees for full cost recovery.
3. A 2013 bill COULD be passed to implement the goals.
4. 2014 COULD be the first full year of new fees. (Can you remember incumbent politicians ever raising fees in an election year? Me neither.)
Ok – mistakes were made, DNR’s fiscal management process is a disaster and has been for decades, the legacy of fisheries management never included stewardship for the public dollar, etc. I get all of that. Maybe current managers shouldn’t be held accountable for the sins of their predecessors. However, their “new kid on the block” time has about run out. It is time to come clean with full disclosure of how every penny was spent and where it came from along with a commitment to stop treating recreational fishermen like cash cows.
I plan to buy a new pair of rose-colored glasses ,but just to look at. I’m a long way from actually wearing them yet.
About Ken Hastings
About 15 years ago, Ken's love of everything outdoors became more focused on a quest for better natural resource management. Bank traps, blue crabs, oysters, yellow perch and striped bass have all dragged him into countless battles and what he describes as seemingly endless meetings where he saw an obsession with exploitation of our resources for profit and little or no interest in conserving anything for the future. While he sometimes join ranks with recreational fishing groups and shares his research with them, his public comments are his own.
When Ken retired from his electronics engineering career five years ago, he saw a lot more fishing in his future but it didn’t work out that way. Today, he can probably be best described as a full-time volunteer conservationist who occasionally goes fishing. Tomorrow, he told me he plans to start doing something about the “occasionally” part
Update 2/10/12 Response from Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service Director Mr. Tom O'Connell.
I am writing in response to Ken Hastings' guest column of February 7 regarding accountability for Maryland Fishing License Fees.
First and foremost, I want to assure your readers that there are no items in DNR's annual accountings of fish license fee expenditures that we are trying to keep from public view.
In reference to the increased revenues from sport fishing license fees that resulted from 2007 legislation (SB 1012), our spending plan implemented in February 2009 is available online at http://dlslibrary.state.md.us/public...08/2008_96.pdf. It is important to note the majority of actions outlined in the spending plan were recommendations crafted by the Task Force on Fisheries Management which was convened as directed by SB 1012, and was comprised of broad representation of recreational angler constituents. Three years later, the majority of these projects are being implemented, and resulting in current annual expenses. (Some actions have resulted in a higher than anticipated costs, one reason why all of the actions have not been fully implemented.)
The Department acknowledges the need for improved consultation with the Sport Fisheries Advisory Commission (SFAC) on planned expenditures for these revenues. As I have informed Mr. Hastings, we plan to formalize the regularity of these consultations in 2012. My team and I are also working to provide additional budgetary information that will improve stakeholder confidence in how the Department uses these funds; we will be presenting our preliminary cost recovery analysis at the SFAC meeting on February 13.
We fully understand and appreciate stakeholder concerns regarding the use of taxes and fees, which is why DNR remains committed to making cost recovery a priority. Addressing this issue is not easy, particularly while the nation continues to struggle economically, and we fully recognize the frustration surrounding the delays in accomplishing these tasks. While our cost recovery problems are not uncommon among our sister states along the Atlantic coast, I believe our level of commitment to addressing this issue is.
Finally, while there was a brief delay in the formal response to Mr. Hasting's Public Information Act request of December 26, 2011, It should be noted that its presentation coincided with the end of the year holidays, prescheduled leave and mandatory staff reduction days -- I personally provided him with updates on the status of his request throughout the referenced time period.
In closing, my team and I continue to ask for your trust in our commitment to addressing these issues, and your patience as we focus both on the challenges ahead and the path of opportunity.
Tom O'Connell
Fisheries Service Director
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Please note: The views and opinions expressed by guest columnists and/or writers on Tidal Fish are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views and/or opinions nor implies endorsement by Tidal Fish or the people that work for/with it.
More fresh new served up later this week. Until then, get out there and do some fishing. The striped bass bite has continued to be on fire off of Virginia's Eastern Shore and the Bluefin Tuna bite red hot off Virginia Beach. Check the Virgina Fishing Forum for all the Fishing Reports and fishing pictures.
Brandon
Chief Angler TidalFish.com
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