Tag Archives: commercial fishing license fees

Gillnetters oppose WDFW initiative to raise commercial fishing license fees for residents, lower for non-residents

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has proposed an initiative called “Washington’s Wild Future: A Partnership for Fish and Wildlife” Among the policies, it calls for increasing the commercial fishing license fees. The proposed fees would generate close to $4 million in revenue per year, with $700,000 of that coming from license fee changes. Much of the policies in the initiative were modeled after Oregon and Alaska regulation. Essentially, the new legislation would increase the commercial license fee for residential fishermen by an average of 17 percent and decrease the non-resident license fee by 3 percent – something the WDFW calls “equalizing” the fees. For example, a Puget Sound Gillnetting Licenses for salmon currently costs $585 for residential commercial fishers and $890 for non-residents. Read the rest of the story here 17:32

Proposal to increase commercial fishing license fees unveiled by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

columbia river gillnettersA proposal to increase commercial fishing license fees — including a new crew member charge — has been unveiled by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. John Long, the agency’s regional director in Southwest Washington, told a public meeting in Vancouver on Monday the proposal would generate about $1 million from fee increases. Another portion of the proposal calls for redirecting revenue from commercial fees and an existing fish landing tax into the state Wildlife Account. Currently, that money goes into the state General Fund. Long said redirecting the money would generate an additional $3.6 million for the Department of Fish and Wildlife. The proposals require approval of the state Legislature. The agency needs $24 million in new revenue to maintain existing programs, he added. Read the rest here 09:51