Good Answer KenK.

I can only speak for Ontario, Canada fishing laws.

In Ontario most residents (not kids, seniors, the seriously disabled or most Natives people) need a licence to fish, no matter if you keep the fish or not. One species of fish, Lake Sturgeon, now even has a zero limit; so all fishing for it is catch and release.

There is mortality to catch and release fishing, not all the fish released survive. Fishing licence revenues go to not only stock fish but also to develop/preserve critical habitat (used by many creatures, including man) and to protect the fisheries resources from exploitation.

Put yourself in the role of the Conservation Officer also, should he/she be required to hide in the woods to wait until a person keeps a fish, so then they can do a licence check; a very poor use of valuable patrol time. People would also cheat the system to save the cost of a licence. For example, if no licence was required to fish then all of the fish kept in a boat would belong to the one person with a licence. Fish would also be hidden to prevent detection during a fisheries enforcement check.

In Ontario it was recognized that some people keep far less fish or only do catch and release fishing. These anglers can purchase a "Conservation Licence" which is about half the price of a normal licence but only allows about half the limit; this is the licence my wife has and it works great for her limited fishing activities.

Money is always tight, but when you think of the yearly amount of fun that can be had for the cost of a resident fishing licence it is inexpensive entertainment (and you can eat your legal success if you want to).

Mike