BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 504
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Date of Hearing: January 14, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Anthony Rendon, Chair
AB 504 (Chesbro) - As Amended: January 6, 2014
SUBJECT : Sea Cucumbers
SUMMARY : Extends the sunset on provisions of existing law
relating to commercial fishing of sea cucumbers to January 1,
2017.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prohibits the take or possession of sea cucumbers for
commercial purposes without a valid sea cucumber permit.
Requires possession of a sea cucumber diving permit to take
sea cucumbers by diving, and in order to take sea cucumbers by
methods other than diving, requires that at least one person
aboard the boat have a valid sea cucumber trawl permit. The
fee for either a sea cucumber diving or trawling permit is
$338.75 per person.
2)Places conditions on the transfer of sea cucumber permits and
limits the number of sea cucumber permits that may be issued
each year.
3)Authorizes the Fish and Game Commission, upon recommendation
of the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW), to adopt
regulations governing seasons, gear restrictions, and other
measures it determines may be necessary to protect the sea
cucumber resource and assure a sustainable sea cucumber
fishery.
4)Provides that all of the above provisions shall become
inoperative on April 1, 2015 and are repealed as of January 1,
2016, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before
January 1, 2016, deletes or extends the dates on which it
becomes inoperative and is repealed.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Sea cucumbers are marine invertebrates that live on
the ocean floor and are part of a category of sea organisms
known as epibenthic detrivores - organisms that feed on and
AB 504
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break down dead plant or animal matter, returning essential
nutrients to the ecosystem. Two species of sea cucumber are
commercial fished in California: the California sea cucumber,
Parastichopus californicus, also known as the giant red sea
cucumber; and the warty sea cucumber, Parastichopus parvimensis.
The warty sea cucumber is fished almost exclusively by divers,
while the California sea cucumber is caught primarily by
trawling. According to the most recent data available from DFW
(2006), most of the California and warty sea cucumber harvest in
California is shipped overseas to Asian markets, where sea
cucumbers are claimed to have a variety of beneficial medicinal
or health enhancing properties, including lowering blood
pressure, aiding digestion, and curing impotency.
A specific permit is required to fish commercially for sea
cucumbers in California and the fishery is a limited entry
fishery. The number of permittees and collective harvest peaked
in 2002, when the total commercial sea cucumber harvest was
944,700 pounds. The take declined somewhat following 2002 as
diver effort switched to the sea urchin fishery, particularly
around the northern Channel Islands. The number of permittees
and total harvest has remained relatively stable in recent
years. In 2006 there were 92 sea cucumber dive permittees and
20 sea cucumber trawl permittees, who collectively harvested
476,108 pounds. In 2012 there were 83 diving permittees and 6
trawl permittees, for a total collective harvest of 470,475
pounds.
According to the DFW's latest fishery status report (2006), sea
cucumbers are believed to be important agents of bioturbation
(stirring or mixing of sediments or soils), influencing the
structure of soft-bottom benthic communities (communities of
organisms that live in and on the ocean floor). Presently very
little is known about the population size of sea cucumbers. Sea
cucumbers undergo sporadic recruitment (juvenile survival), have
a relatively high natural mortality, and are slow growing.
Species with these life history traits tend to be particularly
vulnerable to overfishing. DFW indicates that it is unknown
whether current levels of fishing effort and harvest are
sustainable, and whether the populations are robust enough to
support these fisheries over the long term. This lack of data
may point to the value of continued monitoring and management of
sea cucumber harvests, which this bill would allow by continuing
in effect the current laws governing commercial fishing of sea
cucumbers.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Diane Colborn / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096