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: SB 470 HEARING DATE: April 12, 2011
AUTHOR: Evans URGENCY: No
VERSION: April 5, 2011 CONSULTANT: Marie Liu
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Commercial fishing: salmon stamp.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
A commercial fishing permit from the Department of Fish and Game
(DFG) is required for the commercial take of fish. Commercial
salmon fishermen are also required to purchase a commercial
fishing salmon stamp under §7860 of the Fish and Game Code. The
base cost of the permit is $85. However, if more than 3 million
pounds of commercial troll salmon were landed in the previous
year, the permit fee may be increased based on the salmon
landed, with a cap of $260. The 2011-2012 commercial fishing
stamp costs $87.55, which is reflective of last year's poor
salmon season.
Proceeds from the commercial salmon stamp, less administrative
costs which are capped at 3.3%, are to be deposited in the
Commercial Salmon Stamp Account (account) in the Fish and Game
Preservation Fund. Monies in the fund are continuously
appropriated to DFG for salmon restoration and enhancement
programs to increase open salmon landings, and for other related
purposes. Thirty dollars of the salmon stamp fee must be used by
DFG for the hatchery production of chinook salmon that are to be
released into state waters. DFG must match the stamp monies used
for the hatcheries with non-stamp funds.
Section 7862 establishes the Commercial Salmon Trollers Advisory
Committee (committee), consisting of six members, selected by
the director of DFG. The Committee is charged with recommending
programs and a budget for expenditures from the account to DFG,
whom must include this information to the Legislature through
the Governor's Budget. DFG may only recommend funding for
programs that have been recommended by the committee.
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The commercial salmon stamp requirements and the committee
sunset on January 1, 2012.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would extend the sunset date of the commercial salmon
stamp to 2016 and reduce the maximum allowable administrative
costs from 3.3% to 1% of annual expenditures.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the author, "Fishermen know that rearing salmon and
restoring their habitat is key to bringing back California's
once great runs of salmon. That is why commercial fishermen have
been willing to tax themselves through the Salmon Stamp Program
to supplement Department of Fish and Game rearing and
restoration projects. This year, our salmon fisheries are on the
rebound after several years of serious declines and closures.
And this year, unless we pass SB 470, the Salmon Stamp program
expires, taking with it one of the state's key tools to finance
salmon recovery."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received
COMMENTS
The commercial salmon stamp program needs updating, but the
parties are not yet ready : The repeated renewals of the
commercial salmon stamp program since its inception in 1978 is a
testament to the salmon fishermen's willingness to effectively
self-assess themselves in order to raise funds to improve the
salmon fishery. These investments in the fishery ultimately not
only benefit the industry, but also the general public. Given
the sunset date of 2012, the Legislature must take action this
year to extend the salmon stamp program without interruption.
However, a four-year sunset extension may not be justified given
that there may need to be some adjustments to the existing
program. In particular, the salmon fishermen would like to
discuss potentially increasing the stamp fees, improving
transparency and accounting in account expenditures, and
adjusting DFG's administrative fees (see comment below).
Additionally, the stakeholders may want to discuss updating
appropriate uses of the stamp revenues (see comment below).
These negotiations are in the very early stages and are unlikely
to be completed this year. Thus, the Committee may instead wish
to grant a two-year extension of the stamp program to allow
sufficient time for negotiations but short enough to ensure
conversations continue. (See amendment 1)
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Stricter restrictions on administrative costs should be deleted.
According to the author, she does not intend to proposal
reducing the administrative cost cap; however this language was
inadvertently not deleted in the last set of amendments. (See
amendment 2)
Investments in salmon hatcheries may be counterproductive:
Hatchery-raised salmon support the commercial fishing industry.
However, there is growing, but not definitive, evidence that
current salmon hatchery management practices are harmful to the
recovery of wild salmon. Hatchery salmon may replace wild salmon
rather than supplement wild populations, as originally hoped.
Current hatchery management practices foster genetic homogeneity
and interfere with natural selection processes, both of which
ultimately result in less resilient populations. These
weaknesses can transfer to wild salmon when they interbreed.
Also, juvenile hatchery fish, even though they are less hardy
overall, may actually out-compete wild salmon when they are
released into open waters because they are bigger and have been
protected from natural stressors (such as predation, fish
passage blockages, and limited food supply), further harming
wild populations.
Considerable research is underway to inform improvements in
hatchery management practices, particularly in the Pacific
Northwest. Reform efforts in California have started, but are in
the very early stages of a process that is likely to take many
years. While improving the state's salmon hatchery practices is
outside the scope of the salmon stamp program, use of stamp
revenues can support and provide an incentive for these
improvements. However, it is important to note that while
hatchery-raised salmon currently underpin the commercial
fishery, the ultimate goal is for self-sustaining populations of
wild fish with minimal hatchery input.
The Committee may wish to suggest to the author and the
stakeholders that a reevaluation of appropriate uses of the
stamp revenues should be part of the future stakeholder
negotiations, particularly in regards to the required spending
on hatchery-raised salmon.
Previous legislation: SB 778 (Wiggins, 2009) would have created
a flat fee for the salmon stamp of $350. While this measure
passed this committee and the Senate Floor, no action on the
measure was ultimately taken on the Assembly Floor and the bill
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was later amended to address an unrelated issue.
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS
AMENDMENT 1
On page 2, line 12, delete "2016" and insert "2014"
On page 2, line 13, delete "2016" and insert "2014"
AMENDMENT 2
On page 2, delete lines 1-8.
SUPPORT
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
OPPOSITION
None Received
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