BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2011-2012 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: AB 2363 HEARING DATE: June 12, 2012
AUTHOR: Chesbro URGENCY: No
VERSION: April 30, 2012 CONSULTANT: Alena Pribyl
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Commercial fishing.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Limited entry fishery
A limited entry fishery is a fishery where the number of people
or the number of vessels who may participate in taking a
specific species of fish or invertebrate is limited by statute
or regulation. Most limited entry commercial fisheries
specifically address the circumstances in which a permit may be
transferred.
Dungeness crab fishery
Dungeness crab Cancer magister was first taken commercially in
California off the coast of San Francisco around 1848. Since
that time, the Dungeness crab fishery has expanded to cover
ocean waters between San Luis Obispo County and the
California-Oregon border. The Dungeness crab fishery has also
become one of California's most valuable fisheries, bringing in
an average of $30.4 million every year. Almost all of
California's commercial Dungeness crab is captured in traps.
Management of the commercial Dungeness crab fishery is by the
Legislature, instead of the Fish and Game Commission who manages
most of the other commercial fisheries. In 1992, in response to
population declines, the Legislature started a restricted access
program by requiring anyone landing Dungeness crab for
commercial purposes to have an annual permit. In 1994, the
program was reviewed and it was determined it was necessary to
limit the number of vessels to protect the fishery. According to
the 2012 California Legislative Fisheries Forum Report, there
are currently less than 600 commercial Dungeness crab permits,
although only about 395 of those are active. There is concern
that an increase in the use of the inactive permits could cause
over-fishing and worsen over-crowding on fishing grounds.
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In 2008, the Legislature designated a Dungeness Crab Task Force
(DCTF) to review and evaluate Dungeness crab fishery management
measures, including a new trap limits program for California
permits, and provide its recommendations to the Joint Committee
on Fisheries and Aquaculture, the California Department of Fish
and Game (DFG), and the Fish and Game Commission (FGC).
Membership of the DCTF includes sport and commercial fishing
interests, and nonvoting members from DFG, non-governmental
organizations, and SeaGrant.
Existing Law
1)Authorizes transfer of a limited entry commercial fishery
permit upon the accidental death of the permit holder, and
limits those to whom the permit may be transferred to a
parent, spouse, child or sibling. The Department of Fish and
Game (DFG) director can also authorize another person to
temporarily use the limited entry permit when requested by the
new permittee for up to 2 years.
2)Authorizes, upon DFG approval, the owner of a permitted
Dungeness crab vessel to temporarily transfer the permit to
another replacement vessel for a period of six months during
the permit year, if the permitted vessel is lost, destroyed,
seriously damaged or suffers a mechanical breakdown. An
additional six month extension may be granted.
3)Authorizes, upon DFG approval, the owner of a permitted
Dungeness crab vessel to permanently transfer the permit to
another vessel in the event of loss or destruction of the
original permitted vessel within two years of the loss of the
original vessel.
4)Makes it unlawful to willfully or recklessly disturb, move, or
damage any Dungeness crab trap that belongs to another person
and that is marked with a buoy identification number.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill changes the conditions under which a limited entry
commercial fishery permit and Dungeness crab vessel permits can
be transferred, and modifies law regulating Dungeness crab
traps. Specifically the bill:
1) Allows a limited entry commercial fishery permit to be
transferred to a parent, spouse, child, sibling, domestic
partner, or other natural person who is an heir of the
permittee, regardless of the cause of death, if the death
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occurred after January 1, 2010.
2) Requires the owner of a permitted Dungeness crab vessel to
have had Dungeness crab landings of at least 5,000 pounds
cumulative over the previous 2 years before he/she can transfer
the permit to another vessel. Also requires the vessel to which
the permit is to be temporarily transferred to be of equivalent
size and capacity as the original vessel.
3) Requires as a condition of a permanent transfer of a
Dungeness crab vessel permit in the event of loss or destruction
of the original permitted vessel that the replacement vessel is
of equivalent size and capacity.
4) Authorizes any person with a commercial fishing license to
retrieve commercial Dungeness crab traps that are present in
ocean waters in Districts 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 between 96 hours
after the close of the commercial Dungeness crab season until 96
hours prior to the next commercial Dungeness crab season.
Requires DFG to develop and enforce regulations for this section
in consultation with permit holders, including provisions for
the notification of owners of traps retrieved following the
close of the Dungeness crab fishery each year, any retrieval
fee, and the sale or auction of retrieved traps. This section
will sunset on April 1, 2019.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the author, the restriction under current law on
transfer of limited entry permits only in the case of an
accidental death has created hardships for families or
beneficiaries of deceased permit holders when the person dies of
natural causes other than an accident. There does not seem to
be a logical reason for limiting such transfers to accidental
deaths. In addition, the current law allows transfers to a
spouse, parent, child or sibling, but not to a domestic partner
or the decedent's estate. This bill addresses those issues by
allowing for such transfers.
The restriction on emergency transfers of Dungeness crab vessel
permits to vessels of comparable size is proposed in response to
alleged abuses which occurred last year when permits from some
tsunami-damaged vessels in Crescent City with little or no
recent crab landings were transferred to large out-of-state crab
boats allowing them to participate in the California crab
fishery.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
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None received
COMMENTS
Commercial Fishing Permits
According to DFG, most limited entry fisheries already address
how permits are handled in the event of the permittee's death.
Therefore this provision of the bill will only apply to the
three fisheries where permit transfer upon the death of the
permittee is not addressed - sea urchin, sea cucumber and deeper
nearshore. Allowing for these permits to be transferred in the
case of death, regardless of cause, will increase the length of
time these permits are active.
Dungeness crab fishery
The DCTF is in place to make recommendations for management of
the Dungeness crab fishery. The author has indicated they are
working with the DCTF to ensure these provisions are consistent
with their recommendations.
SUPPORT
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
OPPOSITION
None Received
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