Photo: Shutterstock
The rationale used for the proposed registration fees is the same rationale used for boats. Users pay a fee to register a boat, for example, and in return, the state provides and maintains access to parking lots, boat ramps, bathrooms, etc. Opponents of the fee argue that paddleboarders do not need the same type of access as boaters. In fact, paddleboarders need just the opposite; a gradually-slopping, sandy launching spot.
While this may sound catastrophic to the paddleboarding community in Florida, there may be a silver lining for those of us who prefer boards of the shorter variety. Of course, there would be the obvious curtailment of paddleboarders simply because some would not want to pay the registration fee. But more importantly, if paddleboards must be registered just like boats, maybe the State will impose other boating related laws on paddleboards. For example, the state already prohibits the “reckless or careless operation of a vessel” under Florida Statute 327.33(1). The statute reads, “A person who operates any vessel … in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property … is guilty of reckless operation of a vessel.”
But before any fee structure can be implemented, it will first need legislative approval. So any decisions made by the citizen panel this week couldn’t take place immediately. The proposal is set to include kayaks, canoes, paddleboards and “other nonmotorized recreational watercraft,” which the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says they do not support, issuing a written statement that said it “appreciates the work of this advisory group, but we are not supportive of increasing fees on Floridians or visitors who participate in non-motorized boating.”
