HARRISBURG -- Boating and fishing in Pennsylvania becomes more expensive today as the new year ushers in higher license fees for both activities.

Unlike a year ago, when the calendar change brought a range of new laws -- from a potpourri of higher taxes to the expansion of the state's low-cost prescription drug programs for seniors -- the higher boating and fishing fees are the only automatic change initiated by lawmakers for the start of 2005.

Many of the nearly 240 bills Rendell signed in 2004 have taken effect by now, such as a measure legalizing slot-machine gambling. Some new laws will take effect after Jan. 1, such as a provision allowing the expansion of Sunday liquor sales beginning in February.

And some cities may choose to exercise their new ability to collect a higher tax on workers.

Fishing license fees will increase from $16.25 to $21 for adult Pennsylvania residents and from $34.25 to $51 for nonresidents. Boating fees will increase by about 30 percent across the board, with the most expensive licenses costing $26 for boats measuring 20 feet or longer.

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission spokesman Dan Tredinnick said the increase would raise an additional $4 million annually for the agency, which has a $40 million operating budget.

"We needed that increase pretty much to maintain the status quo," Tredinnick said.

The additional revenue will also enable the agency to fill law-enforcement vacancies in 12 of its 85 districts, he said.

The fee increases passed in the House of Representatives 161-34 and in the Senate 46-1. The law also creates new permits for one-day resident fishing, fishing on Lake Erie, and a combination license for Lake Erie and trout and salmon fishing.

Rep. Bruce Smith, R-York, who sponsored the measure, noted that the state had not raised fishing license fees since 1995 or boating fees since 1991, and that sportsmen's groups across the state supported the legislation.

"We feel the value we're getting for our dollar is well worth it. We have great fishing in Pennsylvania," said Melody Zullinger, executive director of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs.

People who work in Pittsburgh will pay a higher "occupational privilege tax," which will increase from $10 to $52 annually on Saturday under a $417.5 million spending plan the city approved in December.

The city was allowed to raise the tax, now known as the Emergency Municipal Service Tax, under a package of bills Rendell signed in November as a way to alleviate its financial distress. Every municipality except Philadelphia, which has a city wage tax, may collect the tax, and at least a dozen other municipalities have increased it to $52 or a lesser amount since the bill was signed.

Motorists can also expect to pay higher gas prices in the new year, but not because of any legislative action.

The state's oil franchise tax, which is levied on the wholesale price of gasoline and passed on to consumers as part of the gasoline tax, will rise by nearly 4 cents per gallon for gasoline and more than 5 cents per gallon for diesel fuel. The increase is triggered by wholesale gas prices.