Dick Borneman of Vancouver with a 29-pound spring chinook caught in 2010 near Caterpillar Island.
Legislation to increase Washington’s fishing and hunting license fees — by almost 70 percent for Columbia River salmon and steelhead — got little support today before the state House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
A half dozen or so speakers at the hearing in Olympia voiced support for House Bill 1647, but many more said the free increases are too large at a time when fishing opportunity, in particular, is in decline.
Don Kohler, outings director for the Clark-Skamania Flyfishers, said many club members are close to being priced out of fishing.
“I have a fear that by increasing this license fee by this much that we are going to chase a lot of fishermen off the water, thus resulting in less revenue,’’ Kohler said..
Steve Jones, also of Clark-Skamania Flyfishers, said sportsmen should not have to pay a disproportionate share of salmon and steelhead management costs.
Forestry practices, wastewater treatment plans and other detriments to fish populations benefit all taxpayers and should be mitigated through the state’s General Fund, Jones said.
“All taxpayers share responsibility for endangering these species and all taxpayers should share in paying the cost of recovery,’’ he said.
Liz Hamilton, executive director of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, said the Department of Fish and Wildlife needs more revenue, but the size of the proposed fee hikes will result in additional drops in fishing and hunting participation.
Gabe Miller of Farwest Sports in Fife, Wash., said the drought in 2015 caused emergency fishing closures and a dispute between the state and Puget Sound tribes delayed fishing openers in 2016.
“We need something to sell,’’ Miller said.
Tim Thompson of Long Live the Kings, a Seattle environmental program, was among those supporting the legislation.
“The last thing we should be doing is fighting over this bill,’’ he said. “We should advance it.’’
Jim Unsworth, director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the agency needs about $25 million more to maintain current service levels in 2017-19.
Unsworth, too, said he worries about pricing typical sportsmen out of hunting and fishing.
But in the era of the Endangered Species Act, habitat degradation and hatchery reforms, salmon and steelhead, in particular, have gotten expensive to manage, he said.
Ron Garner of Puget Sound Anglers said his group intends to propose a substitute bill within a couple of weeks.
“It’s a difficult, difficult issue,’’ said Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen, committee chairman.
Blake said fewer people buying more expensive licenses is not his goal.
“Let’s see if we can work through this,’’ he said.
