BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1786
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Jared Huffman, Chair
AB 1786 (Mansoor and Hagman) - As Amended: April 16, 2012
SUBJECT : Sport Fishing Licenses
SUMMARY : Allows sport fishing licenses to be issued on a 12
month basis rather than on the calendar year and adds an option
for a California resident to purchase a 10-day fishing license.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows California residents and nonresidents 16 years or older
to purchase a sport fishing license valid for 12 consecutive
months.
2)Allows California residents 16 years or older to purchase a
sport fishing license for a period of 10 consecutive days.
3)Allows the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to set the fee
for the 10-day fishing license where the fee shall not exceed
the reasonable regulatory cost incurred due to issuance of,
and the administration and enforcement duties relating to, the
license.
EXISTING LAW
1)Allows California residents and nonresidents 16 years or older
to purchase a sport fishing license valid January 1 to
December 31, regardless of date of purchase, upon payment of a
set annual fee.
2)Allows a nonresident 16 years or older to purchase a sport
fishing license for a period of 10 consecutive days.
3)Allows a California resident or nonresident, 16 years or
older, to purchase a sport fishing license for 2 consecutive
calendar days.
AB 1786
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4)Allows a California resident or nonresident, 16 years or
older, to purchase a sport fishing license for 1 day.
5)Allows the DFG to set the license fees based on a statutory
base fee established in 2004 with annual adjustments.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Fishing is an outdoor recreational sport enjoyed by individuals
and families throughout California. Additionally, California has
many unique waterways that draw nonresident anglers from around
the world. As in most states, in order to fish in California an
angler must purchase a license from the Department of Fish and
Game and have possession of this license while fishing.
Under current law, a fishing license is valid January 1 to
December 31 of any given year and costs the same regardless of
the purchase date. Therefore, under this system, a license
purchased in January and a license purchased in November will
cost the same; however, the anglers would have valid licenses
for different lengths of time (i.e. 12 months vs. 2 months). The
author states that "he decided not to purchase a fishing license
in the month of November because he did not want to pay full
price for a license that would be expiring in less than 2
months." Supporters of the bill contend that there are likely
many anglers making the same decision. AB 1786 would allow
anglers to purchase a 12-month license at any time of the year,
thus maximizing the value of the money spent on the license.
According to DFG, issuance of fishing licenses in California has
declined 11% over the past 10 years. Eight other states (AK, FL,
GA, MS, NC, TX, UT, and VA) currently issue sport fishing
licenses on a 12 consecutive month basis and most have seen an
increase in revenue since switching from a calendar year
license.
DFG is in the process of implementing the Automated License Data
System (ALDS) which, among other things, streamlines the license
process making it quicker to purchase a license; increases
access to license items by making more items available for sale
at license agent locations; and increases the availability of
licenses as licenses will no longer be subject to inventory on
hand and will be available online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
AB 1786
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Primary implementation of the ALDS is complete but the systems
final features will not be in place before early 2014.
According to the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), if licenses
are valid for 12 consecutive months, it may be difficult to keep
track of other report cards or validations that will remain
valid for the calendar year. For example, Ocean Enhancement
Validation, and report cards for Abalone, North Coast Salmon,
and Steelhead collect data from January 1 through December 31 of
a given year and report cards are due by January 31st of the
following year. It will be the responsibility of individual
anglers to ensure that report cards and validations remain up to
date. Additionally, annual bag limits exist for many species (24
abalone, 3 sturgeon, etc.). LAO asserts that if licenses are
valid from the date of purchase, it will be difficult to keep
track of these annual limits and would make it more difficult
for DFG enforcement staff to determine if a person has exceeded
an annual bag limit.
AB 1786 also addresses the issue that residents have fewer
options regarding fishing licenses than nonresidents. Currently,
residents only have options of a 1-day, 2-day, or annual license
whereas nonresidents have these plus the option of a 10-day
license. According to DFG, the Department used to have a short
term fishing license option for California residents; however it
was discontinued due to lack of use. Currently, the cost of a 1-
or 2-day license is the same for residents and non-residents and
the cost of a 10-day non-resident license is the same as a
resident annual license. Therefore, there is likely to be very
little cost savings for a resident angler in the purchase of a
10-day license. Having the 10-day option for non-residents is
logical for those who travel to California for short durations.
However, for resident anglers, this option may just add more
bureaucratic tracking for DFG for a licensing option that would
get very little use.
AB 1786 applies to both the old paper version of licenses and
the newer, electronic ALDS version of licenses.
Supporting Arguments: The author states "This measure is an
attempt to address the current inflexible system of purchasing
fishing licenses. AB 1786 is a simple bill that caters to the
needs of California's sports fishing community."
AB 1786
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Suggested Committee Amendments:
Due to the implementation schedule of the ALDS, the committee
recommends the following amendment:
Amendment 1:
Draft an amendment to provide that changes to section 7149.05
enacted in the 2012 session shall take effect on July 1, 2014.
Additionally, because a 10-day license option for California
residents does not appear to be necessary, the committee
recommends the following amendments:
Amendment 2:
On page 2, strike out lines 16 - 21 inclusive
(Removes the California resident 10-day license option in the
paper version of the license administration)
Amendment 3:
On page 3, strike out lines 31 - 36 inclusive
(Removes the California resident 10-day license option in the
ALDS version of the license administration)
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association for Recreational Fishing
Coastside Fishing Club
United Anglers of Southern California
Individual letters: one
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Mandy Arens / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096