BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        SB 345|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520    Fax: (916)      |                              |
          |327-4478                          |                              |
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  SB 345
          Author:   Berryhill (R), et al.
          Amended:  6/2/15  
          Vote:     21  

           SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE:  8-0, 4/28/15
           AYES:  Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson,  
            Monning, Wolk
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Vidak

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  5-0, 5/28/15
           AYES:  Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bates, Nielsen

           SUBJECT:   The Sport Fishing Stimulus Act of 2015  The Sport  
                     Fishing Stimulus Act of 2015.


          SOURCE:    California Sportfishing League


          DIGEST:  This bill exempts charitable organizations and donor  
          intermediaries from the possession limit for fish taken under a  
          sports fishing license; introduces a "junior sport fishing  
          license" at a reduced rate to any resident or non-resident that  
          is either 16 or 17 years of age at the time of purchase; and  
          directs the Fish and Game Commission (FGC) to develop  
          regulations clarifying violations of the possession limit for  
          processed seafood.

          ANALYSIS:   










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          Existing law:


          1)Requires, under Fish and Game Code Section 7145, 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 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 10-day non-resident fishing  
            license that is priced equivalently to the annual resident  
            fishing license.

          2)Authorizes the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) and FGC  
            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 (Fish and Game Code Sections  
            713 and 7149, specifically).

          3)Defines, under Fish and Game Code Sections 2001 and 12013,  
            violations of bag and possession limits and sets appropriate  
            fees for these violations. Allows 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. 

          4)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." (Title 14 of the  
            California Code of Regulations)

          This bill:


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

          2)Introduces a "junior sport fishing license" at a reduced rate  







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            to any resident or non-resident that is either 16 or 17 years  
            of age at the time of purchase. This license is good for the  
            full calendar year in which purchased, regardless of the  
            purchaser's birth date, as long as the purchaser is less  
            than18 years old at time of purchase.

          3)Directs FGC to develop regulations clarifying when fish that  
            has been lawfully taken and then processed (e.g., filleted,  
            frozen, smoked) no longer violates the possession limit.

          Comments

          Does this bill accomplish its stated goal? This bill, referring  
          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, allowing  
          younger fishers to purchase licenses at a reduced cost. 

          Creation of the Junior Sport Fishing license. Based off  
          information from the Automated Licensing Data System, DFW  
          estimates that approximately 22,000 16- and 17- year olds  
          purchase residential licenses and 100 non-residential licenses.  
          Given the 2015 fees are $47.01 and $126.36, respectively, but  
          would be lowered to $15.12, the current cost for a day-use  
          license, under this bill, DFW estimates that there will be a  
          loss of approximately $660,000 in revenues annually. Senate  
          Appropriations Committee staff notes that the intent of the  
          author is to stimulate license purchases of youth who have the  
          potential to become life-long participants in the sport. To the  
          extent that this bill spurs additional interest in sports  
          fishing, the increased sales could offset the revenue losses  
          from the reduced fee. However, whether there will be a change in  
          license sales is uncertain. Staff also notes that the number of  
          fishing licenses sold each year has been on a steady decline.  
          Impacts of changes made by this bill will be additive to any  
          other trends in sport fishing participation. 

          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,  
          Chapter 456, Statutes of 2014) raised the age limit for the  
          junior hunting license from 16 to 18. However, all hunters under  







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          18 are required to have this license. Currently, sport fishers  
          under the age of 16 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.

          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, Chapter 346, Statutes of 2013). Currently,  
          DFW 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 bill prevents 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 DFW, once a fisherman 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. This bill recommends  
          that FGC clarify when processed fish could be exempted from the  
          possession limit.

          Prior Legislation


          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.







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          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No

          According to the Appropriations Committee, this bill will have  
          one-time costs of less than $150,000 from the Fish and Game  
          Preservation Fund (special fund), likely in FY 2016-17, for  
          programming costs of the Automated Licensing Data System. These  
          costs may be offset by increased license fees. In addition, they  
          estimate annual revenue reductions of approximately $660,000 to  
          the Fish and Game Preservation Fund as a result of lower fishing  
          license fees for 16- and 17- year olds. 


          SUPPORT:   (Verified5/29/15)



          California Sportfishing League (source)

          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








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          OPPOSITION:   (Verified5/29/15)


          None received


          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, this bill  
          encourages more individuals to become sport fishers by  
          establishing 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." The authors also 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."


          Prepared by:Angee Doerr / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
          6/2/15 21:43:03


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