Budget Law Will Freeze Sport Fish Restoration Fund

The American Sportfishing Association reports that on Sept. 14, 2012 the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released its recommendations for budget cuts that include withholding parts of the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund. The cut would be the first in the fund’s 62-year history. The ASA calls the fund, “the backbone of fisheries conservation in the United States.”

According to the news release, the OMB’s action was triggered by the failure of the Congress and the Administration to enact a plan to reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion, as required by the Budget Control Act of 2011, and the fund is recommended for a cut totaling $34 million.

The Sport Fish Restoration Act of 1950, a user-pay model, placed a federal excise tax on all recreational fishing equipment, which manufacturers pay and is then incorporated into the cost of the equipment that anglers purchase. In 1984 the Act was amended to include that part of the federal gasoline fuel tax attributable to motor boat use. The total annual value of the Trust Fund is approximately $650 million. The monies from the fund are apportioned to state conservation agencies for sport fish restoration, boating safety, angler and boater access and other fishing and boating programs.