Angling license fees have little relationship to the amount of angling, to the benefits derived by anglers, or to the cost of providing fishing opportunities. Consequently, license fees poorly perform the customary rationing function of prices in the market economy. Much has been written in the recreational fisheries literature to the effect that it could be both desirable and feasible to price access to angling resources according to the underlying supply-and-demand forces. This position is largely based on normative ideals of economic efficiency, rather than on positive, empirical analysis. Conceptual and practical difficulties remain in instituting pricing regimes commensurate with economic ideals. These are illustrated by recent changes in fishing-access prices in Ontario.