I think the BIG reason is....
You can RELEASE an incorrectly caught fish/wrong species. C&R is a wee bit tougher in hunting.
Yes you can, if you know how to release it properly and know how to properly identify the fish you brought to hand. You'd be surprised how many people out there don't have a clue how to do either one.
And JBJ, how is education similar to beaurocracy? Please enlighten. As well, if the fees were put back into the education program or into habitat enhancement, whats the problem? I'd gladly pay more licensing fees if it went to either one. The beaurocracy flag gets waved around all the time but the people complaining about it don't realize that without management we would have NO fish ANYWHERE anymore. Its time to wake up and realize that we live in a society that will take advantage of every last opportunity until it is dried up unless it is regulated (unless you know a better way).
Dion, the CORE program more about conservation, ethics, survival and like i said many other concepts common to hunting and fishing. It's not focused on firearms. Firearms safety obviously has a part in it as well but it is covered more extensively when you get your Possession and acquisition license.
BwiBwi, whats wrong with a 5 year old having to be with somebody who has been "properly" educated and licensed?? Shouldn't a person who has properly learned how to fish (ethically, also) be providing guidance?
We've all seen the garbage, we've all seen poor ethics, we've all seen people take more than the limit. Wouldn't you guys agree that the first step in preventing any of this would be properly educating people? Much more than this would cost to implement gets pissed away every year by our government.