Starting Jan. 1, adult saltwater anglers in Virginia either must obtain a valid saltwater fishing license or register with Virginia’s Fisherman Identification Program.

According to a release from Virginia Marine Resources Commission spokesman John Bull, the Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is authorized beginning in 2011 to charge fishermen an annual fee of $15 to register with the National Saltwater Angler Registry.

But Virginia’s saltwater anglers don’t have to pay the fee or sign up with the national registry because the state has been exempted, he said. VMRC instead made arrangements to collect contact information when anglers buy their annual state saltwater fishing license.

Some anglers are exempt from buying an annual license, said Bull, but they’re not exempt from registering with the new Fisherman Identification Program and supplying their contact information before they fish every year.

Registration is ...