OPINION/COMMENTARY

More Fishing Chicanery

I have written several articles recently that concerned the ongoing campaigns to eliminate most of the excise taxes that support State fishing management programs. Here is a quick summary of what I have said. State fish and wildlife agencies are the government entities responsible for the management of all sport fishing in the United States with but a few exceptions. Certain Federal lands (a tiny minority) where the Federal government has Exclusive Jurisdiction and coastal waters on oceans or the Great Lakes are areas where State authority is limited but still requires active State cooperation with Federal agencies to maintain sport fishing and the annual harvest of fish species. A major portion of all State fish and wildlife fishing program budgets (20 to 35%?) comes from the collection of excise taxes and import duties on fishing tackle and motorboat fuel taxes. The funds are collected by the IRS and Customs and transferred to the US Fish and Wildlife Service where they are held and apportioned annually to State agencies for SPORT (per the law) fishing programs based on criteria such as area of the State, population, and fishing license sales. The current collections of such taxes and import duties total $400 to $500 Million each year. Last year (2004) tackle box manufacturers silently lobbied successfully to have the 11% excise tax on tackle boxes reduced to 3%. This resulted in an unmentioned loss of funds probably in the neighborhood of $6 to $10 Million annually. Archery manufacturers (who pay an excise tax on bows and arrows that similarly goes to State agencies for hunting programs) silently “partnered” with the tackle manufacturers in lobbying Congress and were also successful in having the excise tax removed entirely from certain bows and arrows. These excise taxes had been in place and supporting fishing and hunting programs for over half a century. The US Fish and Wildlife Service knew what was going on but remained silent. Hunting and fishing organizations were likewise silent about what they knew was going on....