RICHMOND, Va., — June 4, 2013 — Virginia is shedding its late 19th century system of taxing oysters by the bushel for a user fee that will spare watermen mounds of paperwork and return the revenue generated by the fee back to the Chesapeake Bay to replenish public oyster stocks.
The new system, which begins July 1, will require a yearly fee and replace the monthly reports and paperwork that have been an annoyance to watermen and others in the business. The user fees apply to commercial oyster operations, not oyster “growers” who cultivate the hardshells for their own eating enjoyment or simply for the health of the bay.
The new fees range from $50 a year for people who harvest by hand on public oyster grounds to thousands of dollars annually for oyster shucking and packing houses.
The old system generated about $30,000 to $35,000 in taxes annually while the new user fee approach will raise approximately $300,000, said John M.R. Bull, spokesman for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
“That goes right into oyster replenishment,” he said. While the state provided $2 million in the current budget for oyster replenishment, the amount of public support varies from year to year.
Read the full story at The Washington Post