GRANBY — Dave Kutcher, an avid fisherman from Easthampton, and Mathew Delp, a lifelong fisherman and owner of Granby Bait, have differing opinions on plans by the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife to hike the cost of fishing and hunting licenses.
“I’ve heard a lot of talk but I don’t think anyone is upset,” said Kutcher.
“Plenty of customers are coming in and no one is happy about it,” said Delp.
Kutcher doesn’t mind the proposed increases — which range from $5 for a one-day commercial shooting preserve license to more than $100 for a comprehensive annual license — saying it will help with conservation and with the restocking of waterways with fish.
“If you like fishing, it’s more fun when there are a lot of trout in a fresh stream,” he said.
Delp said the increases will hurt working-class people and either turn them away from fishing and hunting or encourage them to do it illegally.
“All you’re doing is encouraging law-abiding citizens to become lawbreakers,” he said.
Since the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife earlier this month announced a series of across-the-board increases in hunting and fishing licenses, there has been no shortage of opinion.
Some feel the price hikes — the first since 1996 — are well overdue and essential for MassWildlife’s efforts at conservation, land acquisition and stocking fish and game birds.
Others feel the increase, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and an economic downturn, to be an affront to the working-class outdoors people who will be hit the hardest.
Mark Tisa, MassWildlife director, said in a statement recently that the increases are difficult but necessary.
“We recognize this has been a difficult year for everyone, and we don’t make this proposal lightly,” he said. “Responsible fiscal management gave us 25 years without fee increases, however it is critical for us now to address MassWildlife’s current and future fiscal needs.”
Hunting and fishing licenses for Massachusetts residents will increase from $22.50 to $40. Licenses for people ages 65-69 will increase from $11.25 to $20. Licenses for people 70 and older will remain free.
The cost of a three-day fishing license will increase from $7.50 to $20.
Specialty stamps for archery for pheasant or waterfowl hunting, and permits for antlerless deer, turkeys or bears, will each increase from the current $5 to $20.
For those dedicated Massachusetts outdoors people who wants to hunt everything, the total cost of a hunting license, waterfowl, archery, primitive firearms, and pheasant stamps, plus bear and turkey permits, would increase from $47.70 to $160.
For the math-impaired, that’s an increase of $112.30 or 235%.
MassWildlife has begun a series of informational sessions via Zoom where people can hear officials explain the reasons for the hikes, and offer input. The first session was last week.
There are two others scheduled. The first is Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., and the other is March 25 at 6:30 p.m. Information on either session is available through the MassWildlife website.
People can also submit their opinions through an online form, or by mail to MassWildlife Re: License Fee, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA 01581.
“It comes down to economics,” said Gary Sanderson of Greenfield, a lifelong hunter and fisherman and a retired editor and outdoors columnist with the Greenfield Recorder.
The gentleman hunter or fisherman who sees the outdoors as a weekend hobby probably doesn’t mind an increase, he said. Those with lower incomes who hunt or fish for food and not trophies probably will.
”Those are the people who will scream bloody murder,” he said.
Hunting and fishing enthusiasts check out the Northeast Big Buck Club's Wall of Racks at the 36th annual Springfield Sportsmen’s Show at Eastern States Exposition in 2019. (The Republican file photo)
A post on MassWildlife’s Facebook page announcing the increase attracted more than 600 comments. Most of them appear to be some variation of tennis great John McEnroe’s famous cry: “You cannot be serious.”
“I understand what they want and how they have not raised fees since 1996,” said Jack Maspo of Holyoke, who said he hunts or fishes several times a week. ”However, I think the fees they are charging are too much when compared to other states.”
Maspo, who attends Unity College in Maine, said he prefers hunting in the Pine Tree State, where there is more land, and where property owners are more willing to grant hunters access to it.
“People in Massachusetts hate hunters,” he said.
Maspo also bristled at Massachusetts regulations and the fee structure, where one has to pay for a hunting license and then pay again for permits to hunt different game in different seasons.
“If you want to hunt turkey, you need a turkey permit. If you want to hunt duck, you need a waterfowl permit. If you want to hunt bear, you need a bear permit,” he said. “You need different permits for different game and it adds up to a lot of money.”
According to the MassWildlife website, sales of sporting licenses over the last 25 years have declined by 20% and hunting licenses by 50%. In 2001 there were 23,395 hunting licenses issued in Massachusetts. In 2019, there were 14,442.
MassWildlife has to contend with the loss of income caused by the Legislature waiving the cost of hunting and fishing licenses for anyone over 70. This covers an estimated 27,000 people per year, and that amount is expected to grow as the population ages.
State Sen. Anne Gobi, D-Spencer, filed legislation that would require the Legislature to provide funding to MassWildlife that would offset the estimated $1 million lost each year with the senior discount.
“Offering free licenses to those over a certain age is the right thing to do, especially now when we want people to enjoy the outdoors,” she said. “Reimbursing that revenue is also the right thing to do.”
The state already offsets the cost of discounted licenses offered to people between the ages of 65-69.
Between the 2001 and 2019 annual reports for MassWildlife, revenue from licenses increased slightly while expenses in some cases doubled.
Over that 18-year span, revenue from fishing, hunting and trapping licenses increased from $4.7 million to $5.17 million, or by about $470,000. The number of general in-state fishing licenses increased from 108,000 to 110,000.
Total revenue from licenses, stamps, permits and educational programs was $7.4 million in 2019, up from $6.7 million in 2001, or around 9%.
Meanwhile, administrative costs went from $1.7 million to $3.4 million. Spending on hatcheries increased from $1.7 million to $2.6 million, game birds from $340,000 to $624,000, and fisheries and wildlife management from $3.3 million to $6.05 million.
Steve Chapman of Reading fishes for trout in the Swift River in Belchertown on Feb. 23. His said his goal is to catch at least one fish a month for the entire year, a task he completed last year. (Don Treeger / The Republican)
Kutcher said one of the reasons he favors the increase is because of the work MassWildlife does in restocking streams and ponds in Massachusetts. People who fish and who fish often can both see it and appreciate it.
According to MassWildlife, roughly 500,000 brook, brown, rainbow and tiger trout will be released in state waterways this spring. The agency also stocks some 40,000 ring-necked pheasants onto public and private land open for hunting.
“People who are die-hard fishermen know where their money is spent,” Kutcher said. “No one has any gripes about how MassWildlife spends its money.”
He said there is a section of the Swift River in Ware, just south of the Quabbin Reservoir, that is renowned for its fly fishing.
“There’s rainbow trout 12 to 18 inches long,” he said.
Right near the river is the McLaughlin Fish Hatchery, a state facility that stocks rivers and streams across the state with trout.
“If you like fishing, you can directly see your license money paying for stocking of rainbow trout.”
Sanderson, who has given up deer hunting and now hunts pheasant, said he favors the work MassWildlife does in stocking game birds in wildlife areas across the state.
If the budget is as strained as MassWildlife says, there would appear to be two options. They could keep costs the same and cut back on the allotment of fish and birds being stocked in the wild, or they could increase fees and continue stocking at the same levels.
Either way there would be complaints, Sanderson said. “But there would probably be less pushback if they raised fees instead of cutting back on the allotment.”
Paul Delp of Granby Bait in Granby, March 12, 2021. (Don Treeger / The Republican)
Delp said he doesn’t like the idea of paying more without MassWildlife offering to provide more in services to make it worthwhile.
Using an analogy, he said, “Say you sell me a cheeseburger for $2.50, and it’s OK. But then I come in one day, and you’re charging $8 and it’s the same cheeseburger.”
The increases may encourage some to consider the risk versus the reward of fishing without a license. The fine for unlicensed fishing in Massachusetts is between $100 and $400, with additional fines for each fish caught. The question is how likely are you to be caught.
And the answer, he said, is not very likely. Delp said he has been fishing and hunting since he can remember and only twice has a game warden come up and asked to see his license.
“I would say 50% to 60% of my customers don’t have a fishing license.” He said he would expect that to grow.
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