Do you buy fishing gear? Fuel up your boat? Purchase a fishing license? Every time you do, you help improve your fishing experience by supporting the Sport Fish Restoration Program (SFR).

Funding comes from a 10 percent excise tax on sport fishing tackle  (FISHING FLIES-fly tyers are required to pay the tax on every fly they sell); a 3-percent excise tax on fish finders and electric trolling motors; import duties on fishing tackle, yachts and pleasure craft; interest on the account; and a portion of powered boat fuel tax revenues and small engine fuel taxes.

The Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act, passed by the federal legislature in 1950, provides funding to state fish and wildlife agencies to support recreational fishing. Modeled after the successful Wildlife Restoration Act, the Sport Fish Restoration Act dedicated permanent funding for fishery conservation.

The Dingell Act includes provisions impacting public lands nationally, including the permanent authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Every Kid Outdoors Program, and improvements to public land access.

By far the Sport Fish Restoration Program receives the largest share of Dingell-Johnson funds. In FY2022 a total of $399 million was apportioned to the states and territories under this program. As with the Pittman-Robertson Act, the amount a state receives is determined by formula: 60 percent is based on a state’s number of licensed anglers and 40 percent on its geographic size. No state can receive more than 5 percent or less than one percent of each year’s total apportionment.  As with Pittman-Robertson, the apportionment formula creates a financial incentive for states to maximize fishing license sales.

https://www.fws.gov/law/federal-aid-sport-fish-restoration-act-1950