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saw this on KATU.com
Oregonians would need to buy a license for $5 a year to harvest clams, crabs and other shellfish under a bill approved by the Senate on Tuesday.
No license is currently needed. The measure was approved 21-8 and now goes to the House.
SB 597 is among numerous bills in this legislative session to impose new fees to help pay for services that have traditionally relied on other state funds.
Analysts estimate license fees would yield about $1 million in each two-year budget for various programs including protection and enhancement of shellfish stocks as well as enforcement of existing harvest limits.
The funds would add a shellfish biologist position in the Fish and Wildlife Department.
The money also would help pay for state Agriculture Department shellfish testing that determines when eating shellfish is unsafe because of toxic shellfish diseases.
Sen. Charlie Ringo, D-Beaverton, said he enjoyed crabbing as a youth along the Oregon Coast and protested charging people for a popular recreational activity.
But Sen. Joan Dukes, D-Astoria, said besides testing for disease, research is being done on improving stocks.
"There really is a lot of science going on," she said.
The license would be required also for sport harvesting of mussels, oysters, scallops and shrimp but not for freshwater clams or crawfish.
Oregonians would need to buy a license for $5 a year to harvest clams, crabs and other shellfish under a bill approved by the Senate on Tuesday.
No license is currently needed. The measure was approved 21-8 and now goes to the House.
SB 597 is among numerous bills in this legislative session to impose new fees to help pay for services that have traditionally relied on other state funds.
Analysts estimate license fees would yield about $1 million in each two-year budget for various programs including protection and enhancement of shellfish stocks as well as enforcement of existing harvest limits.
The funds would add a shellfish biologist position in the Fish and Wildlife Department.
The money also would help pay for state Agriculture Department shellfish testing that determines when eating shellfish is unsafe because of toxic shellfish diseases.
Sen. Charlie Ringo, D-Beaverton, said he enjoyed crabbing as a youth along the Oregon Coast and protested charging people for a popular recreational activity.
But Sen. Joan Dukes, D-Astoria, said besides testing for disease, research is being done on improving stocks.
"There really is a lot of science going on," she said.
The license would be required also for sport harvesting of mussels, oysters, scallops and shrimp but not for freshwater clams or crawfish.