ALEXANDRIA, VA - Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Trent Lott (R-MS), this week, introduced legislation to restructure the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, which distributes federal funds to state fish and wildlife agencies for boating and fishing programs. The bill would consolidate the fund’s receipts and distribute them according to a simpler and more equitable formula supported by the American Sportfishing Association and a coalition of 33 other fishing and boating organizations.
Kohl and Lott also introduced a second bill that would recover approximately $110 million per year of excise taxes currently being paid by anglers and boaters. Under current law, only 13.5 cents per gallon is sent to the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, which is only a portion of the 18.3 cents per gallon that is collected on motorboat and small engine fuels. Restoring the remaining excise taxes will significantly boost funding for important programs under the Sport Fish Restoration Act, such as fisheries monitoring; habitat conservation and restoration; fishing and boating access facilities such as docks, piers, and boat ramps; and education and safety programs for anglers and boaters.
“The legislation Senator Kohl and Senator Lott introduced would add $110 million annually to the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, which will mean at least an additional $1.1 million for each state’s fishing and boating programs each year,” said Mike Nussman, president and CEO of the American Sportfishing Association. “These funds will greatly enhance the states’ ability to provide essential services to the angling and boating public.”
The Sport Fish Restoration Act set up the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund as the collection point for motor boat fuel taxes and other excise taxes on fishing gear. Altogether the fund amounts to about $450 million per year, which is ultimately parceled to state fish and wildlife agencies as a primary source of their overall funding. For more than 10 years, only a portion of anglers and boaters' federal motor boat fuel taxes have been directed to the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund, a user-pay fund that provides revenues for fishing and boating programs across the nation.
“The fishing and boating community is extremely pleased that Senators Kohl and Lott have joined forces to introduce this legislation,” said Gordon Robertson, vice President of the American Sportfishing Association. “This is a great example of how partnerships in the conservation arena can and do work.”
The American Sportfishing Association is the sportfishing industry’s trade association, uniting more than 600 members of the sportfishing and boating industries with state fish and wildlife agencies, federal land and water management agencies, conservation organizations, angler advocacy groups and outdoor journalists. The American Sportfishing Association safeguards and promotes the enduring social, economic and conservation values of sportfishing.
