I agree that there's not much enforcement this year, but It's not government trying to get into our hobby. The purpose of the registration is to give the government the tools they need to make more informed decisions about the fisheries we enjoy.
The registration is used to create an angler registry so that our catch and effort can be better accounted for. Right now our an estimate of recreational angling's catch and effort is created by dockside and telephone surveys. The telephone survey is very innefficient because it is based on a random dialing of all people that live in coastal counties. If you have ever recieved this call from NOAA, you may remember the question "Have you or anyone in your household been fishing within the last 12 months". Currently, the result of the telephone survey is closer to a guess than a real estimate.
This becomes a problem when it's time to put regulations on us. Basically, we have to know more about what we're catching so that unreasonable regulations are not enacted. The registry will improve this because now instead of random dialing, NOAA will only be calling anglers.
Finally - MD legislation passed this year to allow MD to collect your contact information when you purchase your fishing license. MD will send this information to NOAA to save you the trouble of registering. There will not be a cost increase, and this process should be painless for anglers. This change takes effect for the 2011 season.
I hope this information helps.
