SPORTING LICENCES

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 134, 8 June 1935, Page 11

SPORTING LICENCES

FEES .MUST INCREASE

OR SPORT WILL VANISH ,

ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW

The decision of the annual meeting of licence holders of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society to recommend to its incoming council an increase in rod and gun licence fees, a course ol action which was foreshadowed as inevitable by the last conference o£ acclimatisation societies, raises some interesting points. The- decision of the Wellington Council will have to be ratified by the societies' association, as in the case of the fishing licences, with the exception of certain restricted Government areas, the angling licence of each society covers thjj whole of the Dominion, and no society so far has individually raised its fees. General action by the societies is, moreover, necessary if a burdensome system of endorsements of licences and adjustments of fees between one district and another is to be avoided. The attitude of the ■ Government is not yet very clear on the question of increased fees, but the Internal Affairs Department in the,case of shooting licences, and the Marine Department in the case of angling licences, will have to be consulted. It is probable that no exception would be taken by the Government to a moderately raised fee in both cases, but the fact that the reception of the suggestion of the innovation in all quarters'can only be guessed at. probably had something to do with the determination of the annual meeting of the Wellington society not to make a definite suggestion as to the extent of the increase. MUST HAVE REVENUE. The viewpoint of the societies, as expressed at their conference, was that the increasingly urgent demands for more fish and more game could only be met by increased fees. In the old days the £1 licence adequately provided revenue. Game was sufficiently plentiful, expenses were not so heavy, and vermin did not exact such heavy tolls upon attempts to breed and liberate enough game to make shooting worth while. Now the sportsmen all complain that there is not enough either to shoot or fish for. The rivers have not the same number of big fish, and in many rivers the number of smaller ones is decreasing. The lakes have been drained in many places, and the increased setlement has done away with a good deal of cover for game for the gun. . It is argued that one sport is much like another in that those.,who enjoy it must be prepared to pay for it, and that the increase of a few shillings in the licence is hot likely to seriously affect the angler who spends several pounds on waders, flies, gut, and transport, or the shooter the cost of whose gun and cartridges, petrol, and other special charges makes the increase negligible-. '

The fact that the time has come when breeding and liberation of existing game and. the importation of im* ported game, such as chukor and pheasant, is essential, if sportsmen are to have something for their licences, means increased expenditure by all the societies, and it is pointed out that the societies' share of the opossum revenue, formerly a standby, is not only no longer a certain quantity, but by no means assured of continuance even in smaller degree. The remedy is to raise the fees,- which form the only certain revenue to the societies. The position of the.. Wellington Society is a case in point. ■ The 'society last year lost £258, even with the receipt 'pf opossum revenue,. and if there had been no opossum revenue, there would have been a loss over four years of over £2000. This is in a society which employs only two regular rangers over a district covering a range of country that could quite well keep five regular paid rangers at work. There are honorary rangers, of course, but foi; many reasons these have not the free- : dom of the paid man, and delays fre^ quently lead to the failure to secure sufficient evidence to convict of poaching. It is evident that if a sufficient number of paid rangers is to be put on to safeguard the vanishing sport,1 more revenue will be required. It is! admitted that increased licences will' mean the dropping out of a few shooters and fishers, but the increased' revenue is expected to make up the' deficiency.. THE POACHING ASPECT. In many ways sport in New Zealand differs from other countries. Shooting and fishing have hitherto been almost free to all, and most land owners have been willing to allow access to sportsmen who, in fact, have been rather top, inclined to look upon such access as a right. The freemasonry of sport with rod and gun has hitherto allowed of no differentiations, and some of the most active and valued men on the societies have not been by any means too well off. Everything in New Zealand sooner or later assumes a political aspect, however, and though the actual increase in the annual cost of these sports may not be great, there will be considerable opposition to increased fees from those whom it will undoubtedly affect. There are many who will be able to say that they can no longer afford a licence. Increased fees always alienate a proportion of the contributors to the revenue, as was the case1 with petrol tax. Not all of the persons who could not afford to pay con-> siderably increased fees are of the type who would get the fish or game with or without a licence. Poaching is generally undertaken in the spirit of devilry, however, irrespective of actual need, and it is certain that more ranging will bef necessary if there is any tendency to make shooting and fishing no longer a "poor man's sport." Much depends on the extent to which fees, are raised, and it is unlikely that the whole of the Dominion would favour an immediate increase of both shooting and fishing licences by 10s. No doubt the Government would like to see the societies' revenue increased to the point where a grant from the opossum revenue would no longer be necessary, but if the expensive provision of game and adequate ranging are to be provided purely out of the societies revenue, the cost of licences would have to be raised to a point prohibitive to a very large portion of the present licence holders^