Saltwater vs Freshwater license price.

[tsigmon]

Late last week while on our way to Huntington Beach State Park my wife went to buy her salt water license and noticed the salt water license is $15/ yr and the freshwater is $10/yr. I'm wondering why the price difference, I'm sure there's a reason but I don't know why. Any ideas?

[4THEGIRLS]

Because everything costs more at the beach…

[Baggy]

Tourism $

[Catdaddy]

Because you have more acres to fish with a saltwater license.

More acres= more water=more fish

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[centurian]

Resident license are a steal in most states. Be careful what you complain about. The people who make these decisions are not sportsmen.

[ecu1984]

Resident license are a steal in most states. Be careful what you complain about. The people who make these decisions are not sportsmen.

what he said

[tsigmon]

Resident license are a steal in most states. Be careful what you complain about. The people who make these decisions are not sportsmen.

I wasn't complaning , I was just just wondering the reasoning

[Saltydog235]

Because freshwater fishing sucks compared to saltwater.

[smitch320]

I seem to recall something about flounder a few years ago when it increased.

I really don’t know though.

[Duck Tape]

It was to bolster funding for a flounder hatchery.

[Palmetto Duck]

It was to bolster funding for a flounder hatchery.

Now we’re stocking the ocean? Let’s add $10 more dollars for a tarpon and sailfish hatchery. Surely if we dump thousands of small tarpon in the harbor they’ll hang around long enough so everyone can catch one. And sailfish dump at the A can, and last sea bouys in charleston and G town.

[Duck Tape]

"The increase in the license fee passed by state lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Henry McMaster earlier this month was one part of a comprehensive legislative package aimed at addressing overfishing of flounder that also included changes to size and bag limits, and the establishment of a new stocking program designed to help rebuild the state's flounder population over time."


"For South Carolina residents, the cost of an annual saltwater recreational fishing license will increase from $10 to $15, bringing South Carolina’s saltwater recreational license fees for residents in line with neighboring states (GA: $15; NC: $16)."

"This represents the first increase in the state's saltwater license fee in two decades. A complete list of new fees is outlined in the chart below."

[2thDoc]

salt aint free

and we all know its silly to think that $5 went to grow flounder....

[Sasha and Abby]

it's because resident salt water fishermen are serious and will pay it. Tourist saltwater fishermen are not serious and will pay it...

Bump up freshwater licenses and you will hear lots of screaming from residents that fish bridges and banks, and that VOTE!!!

[Palmetto Duck]

So are we building a flounder hatchery or buying them Duck Tape? Has that been sorted out yet? If we don’t lower the creel limit it won’t much matter. Before the fee was raised did we look at annual lic run and determine how much we’d have for restocking this year? Rebuilding the redfish stock has been a huge success since early 90s. Shouldn’t be that hard to replicate if the 5$ increase is seriously for flounder.

[raybird]

where is this flounder shortage?

[Catdaddy]

where is this flounder shortage?

At my house

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[scdiver]

They(biologists) and we(fishermen) are working through flounder fin clips to establish a genetic fingerprint of natural fish. If you flounder fish often and want to get involved, fin clips are an easy way to get involved.

Last I heard they were struggling to grow females, also the last I heard they were working through salinity/temperature/habitat changes to rectify males only in the hatchery.

Drum, cobia and seatrout have been stocked in the past.

https://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/stocking/research.html
https://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/stocki...hancement.html

Waiting to see the data from DNR that the flounder regulations and reducing boat limits have helped. Empirical evidence says they have been successful with more fish and larger fish around.


I was hesitant to see the size increase to 16inches. I think the boat limit has more to do with more fish around than the size. I also don't keep a lot of flounder, just like to catch them and tag them.