Want A BC Fishing License... Google It

Monday, November 19, 2007 11:17 AM

The Internet has now made its presence felt in the sale of fishing licenses in BC.

The Province has introduced a system whereby those who wish to fish will be able to buy their licenses on line.

Under the new e-licensing system, developed in partnership with Service BC and the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, anglers can purchase their basic freshwater fishing license, classified water permit or conservation stamps through any computer with Internet access or from any e-licence-equipped vendor.

While the online system has been operational since Sept. 6, 2007,government has been working with Robinson’s in Victoria and Highwater Tackle in North Vancouver through the fall to pilot the new system for vendors.

During the transition period, anglers can still purchase traditional Paper licences from their favorite tackle shop. In addition to giving anglers greater choice and flexibility about how they obtain licenses,the new system will greatly improve the efficiency of the freshwater licensing system and provide government with better information about recreational effort and angler preferences. This information will be used to help ensure that recreational fishing programs and lake and stream stocking activities are tailored to meet angler demand.

Anglers can purchase fishing licenses at www.fishing.gov.bc.ca/ or at one of one of four e-license-equipped vendors. More e-license-equipped vendors will be added to the system during the next several months.

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Posted on Monday, November 19, 2007 11:17 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: darkken on November 19 2007 1:15 PM

Will people still be able to buy paper licenses? How long will this e-license thing take to get to the hinterlands? Technology is great, but not everyone is internet saavy and more remote areas may find it difficult to find someone with internet access if they forget their license

Posted by: MrGee on November 19 2007 2:34 PM

I hope it can be purchased from my Blackberry while sitting in a C.O. Game Check line-up.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on November 19 2007 5:30 PM

...and another job goes down the tube!!

Posted by: steeliepete on November 19 2007 7:20 PM

I think this is great. Lot's of venders hate the job of writing out licences and bearing the brunt of complaints about cost and regulations. How about when you're waiting in line at the tackle shop while the clerk spends 15 minutes filling out the three licenses. Also, this will mean that you can print out your license and a Conservation Officer can locate you on his computer to verify that you are legal in the event that you forgot it at home.

Savings from a program like this could increase funding in conservation efforts and increase the province's ability to communicate with fisherman about enforcement, conservation, enhancement, etc.

Another advantages include the ability to purchase a license at any time of the day. For example, the night before you go fishing and you haven't had the time to get to the store or get off work in time to get to the store. Also, I've always wanted to have more than one copy of my license so I can put one in the boat, one in my fishing vest an one in the tackle box.

That's my two cents. Can't think of a lot of disadvantages.

Posted by: NMG on November 19 2007 7:46 PM

Gotta agree with you steeliepete, I don't see any downside.

The only thing I could see it doing is possibly bringing less people into the tackle shops and perhaps there may be some loss of incidental sales as a result. The solution is easy IMHO. Vendors could simply say something like "tackle is 15% off at the time of a license purchase".

Creative vendors will adapt and hopefully the cost savings will be put back into the resource. Given the added convenience, I think it's a no-brainer.