Senate panel backs flat fee on brine-shrimp harvesting

Shrimpers would have to pay the state an annual royalty of $550,000 for harvesting brine shrimp from the Great Salt Lake under a proposed law that is making its way to the Senate.

The Senate Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Standing Committee on Thursday approved SB76, which sets a flat annual royalty fee. Harvesters have been paying the state a fee based on the amount of shrimp harvested, which fluctuates year to year. That money pays for endangered species mitigation administered by the Department of Natural Resources.

Sen. Tom Hatch, R-Panguitch, said he sponsored the bill at the request of Natural Resources, looking for a fixed amount that would make budgeting easier. State officials met with the industry and came up with an amount that takes the average of the historic high harvest years and the lowest.

Don Leonard of the Utah Artemia Association, the trade association representing 77 shrimp harvesters, supports the legislation because it will help shrimpers plan for their harvest.