Dear Gov, From PSA, CCA, NSIA, FNW...

[Nelly]

The Following letter from the "big four" sportfishing associations signals a big shift towards teamwork and the fishing industry speaking with a common voice!!!
Larry Carpenter of Fish Northwest joins us tomorrow morning to enlarge upon this new direction for recreational fisheries advocates!

November 17, 2011

The Honorable Chris Gregoire
Office of the Governor
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002

Dear Governor Gregoire:
Our collective organizations represent thousands of recreational anglers,
conservation-minded individuals and hundreds of businesses across the state
dependent on recreational fishing. We are writing to express our opposition to a
proposal contained in your 2011-2013 supplemental budget for the Department
of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to use $1.5 million in recreational license feederived
Wildlife Account funding to subsidize activities that largely benefit
commercial fishery interests. We understand that the state must make many
tough choices in this fiscal environment, but it also must maintain the public’s
trust in the proper use and stewardship of user fees.
As you know, WDFW has seen significant reductions in the level of
General Fund received over the past several years. In fact, the Department has
seen this revenue reduced from $110 million in the 2007-2009 biennium to $69
million in the 2011-2013 biennium (a reduction of nearly 40%). The cuts
currently being contemplated in the 2011-2013 supplemental budget would
further reduce this by $6-7 million. Unfortunately, the Department has been put
in a position that it can no longer continue delivering the same General Fund
services given the severity of these reductions.
Our members have consistently stepped up to fund WDFW’s conservation
and resource management activities. You may also know that recreational
anglers and hunters were approached with, and ultimately supported, a
significant license fee increase during the 2011 legislative session to provide
additional revenue to WDFW. That license fee increase package will provide an
additional $15.5 million to the Wildlife Account during the 2011-2013 biennium,
with $9.2 million coming from recreational anglers. Recreational users provide
the lion’s share of Wildlife Account funding.
Recreational users, including hunters and anglers, will generate over $130
million this biennium for the Department’s budget in the form of license fees,
passes, endorsement fees and federal funding tied to federal taxes on sportfishing
and hunting. This amount does not include the substantial sales tax and gas tax
revenues received by the state that are generated by recreational activity. This
$130 million represents over 35% of the Department’s overall budget and is
nearly double the General Fund support provided to WDFW. Within this amount
recreational fishing license buyers will provide an estimated $66 million in
revenue to the Department this biennium. In comparison, state licensing, fee
and excise tax revenue from state commercial fishing activity will generate less
than $8 million.
In the press release announcing your 2011-2013 budget you noted that the
“budget requires that government services that benefit a relatively small number
of people and businesses, like processing permit applications, be paid for by the
beneficiary and not the general public.” In your accompanying video
announcement you indicated that we must “transform the way we do business”
and that “bold changes must happen.” We agree with these important principles.
We have a difficult time squaring these principles with the 2011-2013
supplemental budget request proposal to “shift 22 percent of hatchery operations
to the State Wildlife Account on a one-time basis to continue fish production for
commercial and recreational fisheries.” Despite our continued support for
WDFW’s hatcheries, a closer look at the facts raises serious questions about the
fairness of this proposal.
WDFW has identified three hatcheries for possible closure or production
reductions due to state General Fund cuts and they overwhelmingly benefit
commercial interests, not recreational fisheries. For example, only 13% of the
Chinook produced by the Samish hatchery are caught in state recreational
fisheries. Only 26% of the Coho and Chinook produced in the Nemah hatchery
are caught in state recreational fisheries. The Chum and Chinook produced in
the Hoodsport hatchery almost entirely benefit commercial fishers. Recreational
users have a responsibility to help cover the cost of services they receive, but it
does not seem appropriate to spend recreational license fee dollars to backfill the
entire cost of this hatchery production. It amounts to the subsidization of
commercial interests with recreational user funds.
“One-time” shifts of dedicated accounts are rarely reversed and do nothing
to transform the way the state does business in the long term. As General Fund
dollars remain stagnant or continue to decline there will be increased pressure to
shift WDFW General Fund responsibilities to the revenue being generated by
recreational license holders in the Wildlife Account. We witnessed this in 2010
when the Legislature made another “one-time” shift of $3.7 million in WDFW
General Fund fish program costs over to the Wildlife Account.
WDFW should be commended for providing you several reduction options
grounded in economic realities and largely reflective of activities being subsidized
with state General Fund dollars. For example, one proposal would save $382,639
by closing the state commercial gillnet fishery in Grays Harbor. When hatchery
production costs are added to these management costs the total far exceeds the
entire estimated annual $180,000 ex-vessel value of this fishery. The actual
license fee and tax revenue received from this fishery provides an even smaller
percentage of WDFW’s total cost of management. There are similar examples of
this gross imbalance across the state, including the non-tribal Willapa Bay and
Columbia River state commercial gillnet fisheries.
Our organizations support the need to maintain hatchery production and
fisheries, but believe the state must reform how it manages and funds these
activities. We offer the following recommendations for your consideration:
• To the extent that the state has a legal obligation to maintain certain
hatchery production under tribal treaty rights it should maintain General
Fund support for those activities or seek federal funds to meet treaty trust
obligations. It is unfair to meet this obligation on the backs of
recreational users.
• The state can no longer afford to subsidize unsustainable commercial
fisheries and should seek to end those fisheries or require commercial
interests to cover the cost of these activities through a broad-based
revenue source, such as increased excise taxes on commercially-harvested
fish. Currently, commercial license and excise tax revenue cover a small
portion of the state’s costs of management.
• Recreational users should see benefits in the form of increased fishing
opportunity from activities being funded with recreational license fee
dollars.
• The state should reprioritize its management of recreational and state
commercial fisheries to optimize the overall economic return to the state
as well as the license and tax revenue needed to fund WDFW’s
management costs. This represents the kind of bold changes you have
advocated elsewhere in the state budget.
We welcome an opportunity to work with you and the legislature to
develop a plan to fund WDFW’s conservation, hatchery production and fisheries
management activities while also maintaining the trust and confidence of
recreational license buyers.
Sincerely,

Bryan Irwin---------------------------Ron Garner---------------------Kelly Brown--------Liz Hamilton
Regional Executive Director---State Board President--------President---------Executive Director
CCA Washington ---------------- Puget Sound Anglers-------Fish Northwest----Northwest Sportsfishing Industry Association

[WaveDancer]

Good stuff there!!

WD.