BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
                             Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:            SB 345          Hearing Date:    April 28,  
          2015
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          |Author:    |Berryhill              |           |                 |
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          |Version:   |April 6, 2015                                        |
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          |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:    |Yes              |
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          |Consultant:|Angee Doerr                                          |
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                  Subject:  The Sport Fishing Stimulus Act of 2015


          BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
          
          The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is  
          responsible for managing California's diverse fish, wildlife,  
          and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend,  
          for their ecological values and for their use and enjoyment by  
          the public.

          The California Fish and Game Commission (CFGC) is responsible  
          for developing regulations to manage sport fishing and hunting,  
          including amongst other things, sport fishing in California, to  
          include licenses, fish stamps, daily bag limits, and possession  
          limits.

          Several sections of the Fish and Game Code authorize CDFW and  
          CFGC to set sport fishing license, stamp, permit, and tag fees,  
          and to increase these fees annually in accordance with the costs  
          of implementing these programs (See Sections 713 and 7149,  
          specifically).

          Current law (Fish and Game Code §7145) requires a sport fishing  
          license for any person, over the age of 16, attempting to take  
          fish, mollusks, crustaceans, invertebrates, amphibians, or  
          reptiles in inland or ocean waters.  Additional validations and  
          report cards are required for certain species and areas. These  
          licenses are valid from January 1st until December 31st of a  







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          calendar year. In addition, California offers one-day fishing  
          licenses and two-day fishing licenses (half the fee of an annual  
          license) to residents and non-residents, as well as a ten-day  
          non-resident fishing license that is priced equivalently to the  
          annual resident fishing license.

          §2001 and §12013 of the Fish and Game Code define violations of  
          bag and possession limits and set appropriate fees for these  
          violations. They allow for the transfer of a fish by a person  
          within the bag and possession limits to another individual,  
          provided that both individuals remain within these limits. Title  
          14 of the California Code of Regulations prohibits the  
          possession of "more than one daily bag limit of each kind of  
          fish, amphibian, reptile, mollusk or crustacean named in these  
          regulations?regardless of whether they are fresh, frozen, or  
          otherwise preserved."

          SB 345 contains language similar to AB 1709 (Frazier 2014),  
          which changed the transition age from junior hunting licenses to  
          full price hunting licenses from 16 to 18, as well as SB 392  
          (Berryhill 2013), which allowed charitable organizations and  
          donor intermediaries to possess game birds and mammals in excess  
          of the possession limit, provided they had documentation showing  
          these animals were legally caught and transferred to the  
          organization.

          SB 583 (Berryhill 2013) and AB 1786 (Mansoor, 2011) also  
          required CFGC to switch from a calendar year based fishing  
          license to a license that was valid for 12 months from the date  
          of purchase. Both of these bills passed the Natural Resources  
          and Water Committee 9-0.


          PROPOSED LAW
          
          This bill would accomplish four primary goals:

          1. Exempt charitable organizations and donor intermediaries from  
          the possession limit for fish taken under a sports fishing  
          license, as long as those organizations or individuals had a  
          record of who lawfully caught and donated the fish.

          2. Transition from a calendar-based annual sport fishing license  
          to an annual license valid for twelve consecutive months from  








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          the date of purchase.

          3. Introduce a "junior sport fishing license" at a reduced rate  
          to any resident or non-resident that is either sixteen or  
          seventeen years of age at the time of purchase. This license  
          would also be good for twelve consecutive months from the date  
          of purchase, as long as the purchaser was under 18 at time of  
          purchase.

          4. Direct the commission to develop regulations clarifying when  
          fish that had been lawfully taken and then processed (e.g.,  
          filleted, frozen, smoked) no longer violated the possession  
          limit.

          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
          
          According to the author, "cost and value are among the greatest  
          barriers to participation" in sport fishing in California, "as  
          licenses that can expire just months after being purchased  
          provide little value to anglers, especially at a base price of  
          $47.01, or more than $120 with permits." This bill would  
          encourage more sport fishers by established a  
          twelve-consecutive-month license, as well as a junior fishing  
          license. They state that "recognizing that cost is a barrier for  
          young hunters, the California State Legislature adopted a junior  
          hunting license in 2014. The same consideration now should be  
          given to young anglers." Finally, the authors state the need to  
          exempt  
          "bona fide charitable organizations from possession or  
          out-of-season limits" as "angler clubs support various  
          charitable causes that include, but are not limited to,  
          environmental and habitat restoration, youth, veterans,  
          education and those with disabilities. This bill would allow  
          bona fide charitable organizations to use fish donated by  
          recreational anglers at their functions without fear of being  
          above possession or out-of-season limits."


          ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
          None received

          COMMENTS
          
           Does this bill accomplish its stated goal?  This bill, referring  








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          to itself as the Sport Fishing Stimulus Act of 2015, states that  
          it is time to "invest in [the] future of California's fisheries  
          and fishing communities." Towards that end, it seeks to  
          encourage more individuals to get involved in sport fishing in  
          California by creating a junior fishing license and  
          transitioning from the current calendar year licensing system to  
          a 12 consecutive month from purchase date system. 

           How will these changes impact revenue?  This bill has the  
          potential to affect current funding for CDFW programming through  
          both of its changes to the licensing programs. The price  
          recommended for a junior sport fishing license ($8.25) is less  
          than the current price of a single day fishing license ($15.12),  
          and would require at least five junior fishermen to sign up to  
          replace every one sixteen or seventeen year-old currently in  
          possession of a standard fishing license ($47.01). In addition,  
          CDFW License Program Analyst Glenn Underwood recently stated  
          that, following the transition from calendar licensing to 12  
          consecutive month licensing, "license sales declined from 10 to  
          30 percent in the three years following implementation." Sport  
          fishers would "wait until the last minute to purchase a license,  
          as they knew it would be valid for one year from that date. Then  
          when their licenses expired, customers again waited to renew  
          until they fished again, creating a gap in licensure. After a  
          few years the sum of the gaps was often greater than a year and  
          a complete license sale was lost."

           Is the junior sport fishing license equivalent to the junior  
          hunting license?  Currently, all hunters, regardless of age, are  
          required to purchase a hunting license. AB 1709 (Frazier 2014),  
          which was chaptered last year, raised the age limit for the  
          junior hunting license from 16 to 18. However, all hunters under  
          eighteen are required to have this license. Currently, sport  
          fishers under the age of sixteen are not required to have a  
          fishing license. As many individuals begin fishing at a very  
          young age, it is unclear if providing a junior fishing licenses  
          for sport fishers between the ages of 16 and 18 will result in  
          more individuals sport fishing.

           Fishing stamps, tags, and reporting requirements remain  
          unchanged.  As written, this bill currently only impacts the  
          sports fishing license. Validations and report cards would still  
          be issued on an annual basis. This bill will either need to be  
          amended to address this concern, or individuals will need to  








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          purchase new validations in January, regardless of when their  
          sport fishing license expires. 

           Is the non-profit exemption a solution in search of a problem?   
          Under this bill, non-profits and donor intermediaries will be  
          exempted from the possession limit for fish species, as long as  
          they have documentation of when they received the fish, as well  
          as the licensing information of the individual who collected the  
          fish and any appropriate tags. This language is nearly identical  
          to SB 392 (Berryhill 2013), which was chaptered last year.  
          Currently, Fish and Wildlife is unaware of any occurrences where  
          not having this exemption in place has proven to be an issue in  
          recent years, or of not-profits getting fined for being in  
          violation of the possession limit. However, this language would  
          prevent such an occurrence from happening in the future, as well  
          as provide guidance to any non-profit interesting in acquiring a  
          large donation of fish. Per Fish and Wildlife, once a fishermen  
          has collected their daily limit, they may not continue to fish  
          for that species on that day, regardless of if they have or plan  
          to donate the additional fish.

           Exemptions for processed fish.  If an individual collects up to  
          the possession limit, then processes and freezes these fish but  
          does not eat them, they continue to count against the possession  
          limit until they are eaten. Currently, these fish could count  
          against the possession limit indefinitely. The bill would  
          recommend that the Fish and Game Commission clarify when  
          processed fish could be exempted from the possession limit.

          SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS 
          
          AMENDMENT 1
               Revise §7149 and §7149.05 to provide a 5-year sunset date  
               of January 1, 2023.  (Legislative Counsel to draft specific  
               language.) 

          AMENDMENT 2
               Clarify the date ranges applicable for the junior license;  
               increase the price so that it is at least equivalent to a  
               one day fishing license

               AMENDMENT 3
               Revise §7149 and §7149.05 (a) (3) to read: A resident or  
               nonresident, 16 years of age or older and under 18 years of  








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               age at the time of purchase, for the period of 12  
               consecutive months beginning on the date specified on the  
               license, upon the payment of a base fee of eight dollars  
               and twenty-five cents ($8.25). A license issued pursuant to  
               this paragraph shall be known as a junior sport fishing  
               license  .  , and shall remain valid for 12 consecutive months  
               beginning on the date specified on the license regardless  
               of the individual's birthdate.
          

          SUPPORT

          California Sportfishing League (sponsor)

          California Aquaculture Association

          California Association for Recreational Fishing

          California Association of Boutique & Breakfast Inns

          California Chamber of Commerce

          California Hotel & Lodging Association

          California Parks Company 

          California Parks Hospitality Association

          California Travel Association

          Coastal Conservation Association

          National Marine Manufacturers Association

          Turner's Outdoorsman

          Visit Huntington Beach

          OPPOSITION
           None Received

          
                                      -- END --
          








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