A proposed requirement that saltwater fishermen purchase a license is no big deal to angler Mario Civitillo of Plainville, Conn., trying his luck at the Charlestown Breachway on Tuesday.

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The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires

CHARLESTOWN — Mario Civitello ignored cold, blustery weather Tuesday morning to prop himself among the boulders along the Charlestown Breachway and cast his fishing line into the ebbing tide, hoping for a bluefish or striper.

Asked for his opinion on Rhode Island’s plans to initiate mandatory licenses for saltwater fishing, Civitello shrugged. “I’m not big on licenses,” he said. “I only fish two times a year, one week in the summer and one week this time of the year.”

He doesn’t spend a lot of time fishing, said the 64-year-old resident of Plainville, Conn., but he also made it clear he’s not going to stop. He swept his arm at the surrounding beauty — the empty beaches, swirling pond waters and roaring breakers, and offered this appraisal of the new licenses:

“I don’t think it’s right, but what are you going to do?”

If all goes as planned, the General Assembly this week is expected to enact a law that will for the first time impose a license fee on just about everyone who fishes in saltwater along Rhode Island’s coastline. The $7 fee would go into effect Jan. 1.

The state charges $18 for a freshwater fishing license, and that licensing program has been in effect for years. Saltwater anglers have long argued that they should be free to fish without restrictions.

At the same time, the saltwater license proposal has been talked about for so long and so publicly, it is not a surprise to most fishermen.

But because it is being promoted as an alternative to a federal fishing license that might cost $25 or $30, many fishermen are taking a similar attitude to Civitello’s. They don’t like it, but what are you going to do?

At least the state license is cheaper than a possible federal license, they say.

Similar versions of the licensing legislation have already passed in both houses. The Senate last summer passed an amended version that reduced to $10 the penalty for the first offense for fishing without a license. So if the lower penalty is acceptable to the House as well, backers predict little trouble in getting the legislation approved.

“I intend to be there and testifying in favor,” said Stephen Medeiros, president of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association, the biggest group of recreational saltwater fishermen in the state.

Medeiros said Congress passed legislation several years ago requiring the registration of all saltwater fishermen so fishing regulators know who to call when doing surveys on fish catches. Previously, their surveys were done by random calls to the general population — a very imprecise way to gather data.

Any state that didn’t have its own registry would have to submit to federal licensing. Southern and West Coast states already had their own licenses, so it fell on the Northeast to respond. Most of the other Northeast states have already done just that, he said.

At $7, the Rhode Island fee is among the lowest, he said. And the law stipulates that all the money raised would be spent on administrating and enforcing the licensing program, managing the fisheries and enhancing fishing opportunities.

Bob Ballou, acting director of Fish and Wildlife at the state Department of Environmental Management, said he and Medeiros chaired a committee that spent months reviewing the licensing issue. They agreed on a fee as low as possible, and they all agreed that the legislation should stipulate the money be spent only on fishing.

“It has become clear that it is in the state’s interest to generate better data because it will allow for fairer allocations of fish,” Ballou said. Ballou said only Maine and New Jersey have failed to establish state licensing programs. As for Rhode Island, he said he thinks all of the concerns by various legislators have been addressed.

“We’re one of the last to go, but the sense I have is that it is viewed positively by all the interested parties,” Ballou said.

plord@projo.com