California processors are in a tenuous position as governor Jerry Brown turns to landing fees to close a $20 million budget shortfall.
To cope, Brown has proposed to raise commercial fishing landing fees roughly 12-fold with the 2016-17 budget.
The idea is to address a shortfall in the amount the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) spends managing and monitoring the commercial fishing industry — which it estimates at $22m — and the amount of money the industry pays the state — estimated at $5m. Of this revenue, roughly $4m comes from licenses and permits and $1m from landing fees, Rachel Ehlers, principle fiscal and policy analyst for the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) told Undercurrent News…