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Senate panel reviews bill to create marine habitat fee for saltwater licenses
Summary
Senate Bill 159 would authorize Fish and Game to collect a new fee on saltwater licenses to fund marine habitat restoration, with lawmakers and Fish and Game discussing fee design and the need for matching funds to leverage federal grants.
Senate Bill 159, introduced by Sen. David Waters, would authorize the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department to establish a new marine-habitat fee assessed on saltwater fishing and related licenses and place the revenue in a dedicated account for coastal habitat restoration and related activities.
"I'm senator David Waters from district 4 to introduce senate bill, 159, which is a request for the fishing game department, to establish a marine habitat fee," Waters said at the public hearing. He described the measure as modeled on an existing freshwater habitat fee and said the new account would provide matching funds and steady local funding for projects such as oyster restoration and shoreline habitat work.
Renee Zobel, representing the Fish and Game Department's Marine Fisheries Division, told the committee that the department has seen rapid changes in the Gulf of Maineecosystem and would use the fee to support restoration and to leverage federal grants that often require state matches. "This fund would help us in that way to be able to put forth match so that we can leverage large amounts of funds to take on big projects," Zobel said. Fish and Game estimated that a $1 fee on certain license categories could yield roughly $38,000; a $2.50 fee on broader license categories would yield more (estimates based on last year's license sales), but committee members asked for guardrails on fee-setting.
Committee members raised questions about which license types would carry the fee, whether vessels used for charter and party boat fishing would be assessed, and whether the department could set different fees for vessels versus individual anglers. Zobel said the fee would apply to the license categories listed in the bill and that the executive director would set the exact amounts. Committee members asked for limits and oversight; one member suggested returning to the Legislature's fiscal committee before a fee is finalized.
After discussion the committee elected to hold the bill for further work on fee design and oversight provisions, asking the department to return with more detail on rate structure and potential caps or percentage-based limits so the cost to individual license-holders would be predictable.
Why it matters: The Gulf of Maine and adjacent waters are warming rapidly and stakeholders told the committee that a dedicated, locally controlled revenue stream would make the state a stronger partner for restoration and to match federal funds. The committee requested additional detail on fee structure and fiscal impacts before advancing the bill.
