FINAL BILL REPORT

SHB 2011

                                  C 316 L 89

BYHouse Committee on Fisheries & Wildlife (originally sponsored by Representative R. King) 

Changing provisions regulating commercial fishing licenses.

House Committe on Fisheries & Wildlife

Rereferred House Committee on Revenue

Senate Committee on Environment & Natural Resources

SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

BACKGROUND:

The Department of Fisheries manages the state's food fish resource in part through a licensing scheme that gathers harvest information, produces revenue, and identifies the participants in particular fisheries.

Annual licenses are issued to fishers harvesting in state waters. Fishers who harvest offshore (beyond the three mile limit) and bring their catch to a Washington port must have a delivery permit.

The current licensing scheme distinguishes between salmon fishers and fishers harvesting other food fish and shellfish.  License fees related to salmon are generally higher than licenses for other food fish.  Most license fees for other food fish and shellfish have not been increased since the mid 1960's, while salmon licenses were increased in 1977.  Not all license fees distinguish between resident fees and non-resident fees.

There is increasing demand for commercial harvest of species that have not been widely harvested in the past.  The Department of Fisheries does not have authority to set fees administratively for licenses in new commercial fisheries using new types of gear.

Standard measures of inflation can be used to adjust fee schedules. One measure is the implicit price deflator (IPD) that measures, over time, the price changes of goods and services.  It reflects the changes in the actual consumption pattern of the American consumer, and uses the base year 1982.  It is published by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The Department of Fisheries has designated state oyster reserves in Puget Sound, Willapa Harbor, and the Willapa River.  The purposes of the reserves are to furnish oysters to oyster growers and processors, and to provide stock for public beaches.  To take shellfish from an oyster reserve, a person must have an oyster reserve license.  Additionally, oyster growers may bring their oyster shell to the reserves to collect oyster seed that then is planted on private property for eventual harvest.

SUMMARY:

Commercial fishing license fees are increased as follows:  (1) the minimum fee for a harvest license is $50; (2) fees currently less than $100, but greater than $50 (primarily food fish other than salmon and shellfish) are increased to $100; and (3) fees greater than $100 (primarily salmon) are increased by 37 percent rounded to the nearest five dollars.  Non-resident license fees are two times the amount of resident license fees.

Permits are re-designated as licenses.  Six new licenses are established and two licenses (crab pot and trawl) are divided between Puget Sound licenses and coastal-Columbia River licenses.

Licenses used for fishing on the coast (trawl other than Puget Sound and crab pot other than Puget Sound) include delivery licenses which allow the fishers to harvest in offshore waters and deliver to a Washington port.  The additional pot fee for certain pot licenses (bottom fish, shellfish, and crab pots) is removed.

The oyster reserve license for the commercial taking of shellfish from the state reserves is increased from $15 to $50, and oyster growers who bring their oyster shell onto state reserves to collect oyster seed must provide 10 percent of their seeded oysters to enhance the supply on state reserves and public beaches.

In 1993, license fees are to be adjusted based on the implicit price deflator (IPD).

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

      House 97   0

      Senate    38     3 (Senate amended)

      House             (House refused to concur)

Free Conference Committee

      Senate    32    14

      House 96   1

EFFECTIVE:January 1, 1990