Over the past two years, recreational saltwater fishermen such as Patrick Paquette of Hyannis have been trekking up to Beacon Hill to work with legislators to draft a bill establishing the first-ever license fee for their hobby in Massachusetts.
That legislation, putting in place a recommended $10 annual fee, passed the House and Senate without opposition this week and now sits on Gov. Deval Patrick’s desk awaiting his signature.
For Paquette, the bill is the best that could be made of a bad situation.
"As much as fishermen are not going to like buying a state license, I hope that they will realize it could have been a lot worse," Paquette said.