Your Freshwater Fishing Licence, Investment Well Spent
Published on April 28th, 2014 by Rodney
If you fish in British Columbia’s lakes and rivers, then you need to renew your annual freshwater fishing licence on April 1st every year. At $36 per year for an adult who resides in this province, freshwater fishing is one of the cheapest recreational activities you can participate in. The general licence fee has remained the same for many years now, despite of the rise in cost for everything else.
Quite often, the question “where does that money go to?” is raised and the general angling public rarely has the right answer. Many believe the licence fees we pay are deposited into general revenue for the provincial government, which is in fact not correct. Most of the general licence fee is used to fund Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC‘s operations. These operations include the production of trout and char at five of their hatcheries, and the stockings of these fish into hundreds of lakes in this province for anglers to enjoy.
The conservation surcharges which you pay, as well as a small percentage of your general licence fee, are used to fund Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation. HCTF is a not-for-profit organization which funds many conservation related projects in BC. In 2013, the foundation spent 2.5 million dollars on 60 different fish conservation projects.
Beside conservation projects, the foundation also spends money on recreational fishing development projects which the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC has initiated. These projects include fishing infrastructures at various urban lakes in Regions 1 and 2 to make your fishing experience more enjoyable, the learn to fish program which introduces fishing to youngsters.
Not only is your licence fees and conservation surcharges helping our freshwater fish populations, they are also investments which will result in better fishing experiences. It is money well spent!