DeSantis Allocates One Million to Helene-Damaged Marinas, Makes Fishing Licenses Cheaper

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Wednesday two-fold support for marinas and fisheries suffering from the deadly Hurricane Helene: one million dollars from the state's disaster cleanup fund, and discounted fishing and hunting licenses into early January.

The support was revealed at Gov. DeSantis' Steinhatchee press conference in front of the popular Sea Hag Marina, whose owner lost her home and had a third of her riverside rental units flooded after the Category 4 Helene made landfall mere miles from the Gulf coast city.

"We have a culture of rapid response," DeSantis said, touting the state's ability to bounce back from two major hurricanes in rapid succession. He announced that $1 million from the Florida Disaster Fund will go toward rebuilding the fishing town's marinas and infrastructure to help get residents back on their feet, pointing out that the Fund is Florida's private stash of money reserved exclusively for disaster cleanup.

Founded in 2004, its money comes from charitable donations.

In addition, the Governor said, Florida will reactivate its 50% discount for Florida State Park passes and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's (FWC) hunting and fishing licenses starting Oct. 25 and going through Jan. 3. Because Florida has over 4 million licensed anglers, is the fishing capital of the U.S., and because last year's halved prices were the "highest discount" Florida has ever done, DeSantis said, he has decided to reinvigorate those prices for this year.

Last year, the discounted lifetime fishing and hunting licenses, called the Gold Sportsman license, led to $24 million in state revenue after FWC distributed over 75,000 licenses.  This means a sportsman license for kids four and under will be $200 instead of $400; $350 for kids 5 to 12 instead of $700; and $500 for kids 14 to 17 instead of $1,000.

Last year's discounted state park passes led to $2.86 million in revenue.

These new cheap prices may be key for an upcoming, GOP-backed ballot initiative that would enshrine fishing and hunting rights in the state constitution. Called Amendment 2, the measure is opposed by the Florida Democratic Party for fear of excess animal cruelty.

The referendum, passed by the Legislature, needs 60% of voter approval to pass. And with new, cheaper licenses to spike interest in fishing and hunting two weeks before the election, it may be enough to swing the vote.