Georgia lawmakers have signed into law a bill protecting anglers’ right to fish in navigable waters, such as the St. Marys River bordering Nassau County.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 115 into law late last Monday. Both the Senate and the House in Georgia cleared the bill quickly, wanting to ensure the right to fish and use the state’s navigable waters was protected before the end of the quickly closing legislative session.
The act says that all navigable stream beds (including the St. Marys River, Flint River and other shared waters with Florida) became the state’s when it was founded, thus the state is allowed to determine who may and may not use the waterways for fishing, hunting, passage, navigation, commerce, passage and transportation.
The state had previously agreed to a settlement in late March, allowing a local landowner along the Flint River to control fishing access in that area of the river. The landowner — Four Chimneys, LLLP — filed a lawsuit following statements made in the press by Georgia Department of Natural Resources officials. These officials had said the DNR’s Law Enforcement Division would not be writing citations to those fishing in that section of the river.
“DNR acknowledges the landowner has the exclusive right to control fishing to the center of the river on the portion of the Flint River abutting its property,” DNR said after the settlement in a joint press release with Four Chimneys. “This resolves months of litigation between the landowner and DNR … Georgia law recognizes that an owner of land riparian to a freshwater stream may claim ownership of the stream beds adjoining its property if the landowner can trace its title back to a valid State grant issued prior to 1863.”
The settlement surprised environmentalists and outdoorsmen. The bill was filed last minute in response to the settlement and signed into law on the last day of the legislative session.
“The state has invested millions of dollars collected through license fees to establish fisheries and boat ramps and to manage recreational fishing populations in our rivers,” Kemp said. “This bill allows for the public to hunt, fish and transit the navigable waters of this state … a privilege that has been assured to Georgians for generations.”
Though the act protects the right to fish and use navigable waterways, it fails to give a specific definition of “navigable,” leaving what some worry may be loopholes for landowners. The St. Marys Riverkeeper recently called the guidelines “vague and confusing.”
A study committee has been commissioned to further define what is and isn’t “navigable.” The committee will meet between legislative sessions over the summer.