BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2001
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Date of Hearing: April 20, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2001 (Mathis) - As Amended March 10, 2016
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|Policy |Water, Parks and Wildlife |Vote:|13 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill provides a technical clarification to ensure the
Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) may authorize the take of
a fully protected fish for efforts to recover the species, but
not as part of a specified mitigation project.
FISCAL EFFECT:
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Minor, absorbable costs.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill will authorize
actions necessary to help ensure the survival of endangered
species, such as the pupfish, by authorizing their relocation
when existing habitats do not support the species.
2)Background. The Owens River pupfish, also known as the Owens
pupfish, is a rare species of pupfish endemic to California
and found only in the Owens Valley portion of the Owens River,
in Mono and Inyo counties. The species is listed as
endangered under both the federal Endangered Species Act and
the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), and is also
protected under California law as a fully protected fish
species.
As of 2009, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service reported that
there were only four surviving populations of Owens pupfish.
Currently, all four populations of Owens pupfish are
threatened by loss of habitat due to cattail encroachment and
non-native predators, such as bullfrogs, bass, trout, bluegill
and crayfish.
The Bishop Paiute Tribe has a long history with the Owens
pupfish. Historically, the fish was a staple food item for
the local Paiute who caught the fish in the hundreds and dried
and stored them. The tribe has been working for several years
to obtain permits to relocate some of the endangered pupfish
to conservation ponds built on the reservation's Native Fish
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Refuge. However, the Fully Protected Species statutes do not
allow for issuance of incidental take permits, except for
scientific research on recovery efforts, not the recovery
efforts themselves.
This bill allows DFW to authorize recovery actions for the
following fully protected fish listed in statute:
(1) Colorado River squawfish (Ptychocheilus lucius).
(2) Thicktail chub (Gila crassicauda).
(3) Mohave chub (Gila mohavensis).
(4) Lost River sucker (Catostomus luxatus).
(5) Modoc sucker (Catostomus microps).
(6) Shortnose sucker (Chasmistes brevirostris).
(7) Humpback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus).
(8) Owens River pupfish (Cyprinoden radiosus).
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(9) Unarmored threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus
aculeatus williamsoni).
(10) Rough sculpin (Cottus asperrimus).
3)Prior and related legislation: AB 353 (Lackey), Chapter 620,
Statutes of 2015, authorized DFW to allow the take of a fully
protected fish species known as the unarmored threespine
stickleback for a habitat restoration project on Bouquet
Creek.
AB 1973 (Olsen), Chapter 121, Statutes of 2012, authorized DFW
to allow incidental take of the limestone salamander, a fully
protected amphibian species for a highway restoration project
in Mariposa County.
AB 1845 (Dahle) of this year, allows DFW to authorize the take
of the rough sculpin resulting from the repair of the Spring
Creek Bridge in Shasta County. This bill is pending in the
Assembly.
Also, this year, AB 2488 (Dababneh), allows DFW to authorize
incidental take of the unarmored threespine stickleback to
continue operations of the Foothill Feeder water supply
facility in Southern California. This bill is pending in the
Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.
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Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081