BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1287 Hearing Date: April 12,
2016
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|Author: |McGuire | | |
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|Version: |March 28, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Katharine Moore |
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Subject: Commercial fishing: Dungeness crab
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Existing law provides for the regulation of the Dungeness crab
fishery. The Dungeness Crab Task Force (task force) is a forum
for diverse industry interests to review and evaluate Dungeness
crab fishery issues and make management recommendations to the
Legislature, the Department of Fish and Wildlife (department)
and the Fish and Game Commission. According to the task force,
the state's commercial Dungeness crab fishery is one of the most
productive fisheries, by value, in the state, with an average
value of about $48.3 million per vessel per calendar year.
The department-managed commercial California Dungeness crab
fishery is a restricted fishery (in other words, only those who
meet certain criteria may purchase the appropriate permits to
participate in the fishery). In order to obtain a Dungeness
crab vessel permit, the owner must possess a valid commercial
fishing license, a valid commercial boat registration and must
have a valid earlier Dungeness crab vessel permit to renew. In
addition to these requirements, permits for the traps that will
be used must also be obtained. California has a tiered crab
trap limit fishery where, based upon historical landings, a
certain number of traps are authorized for each permit holder in
a given tier, as specified. The biennial fees for these traps
include a crab trap limit permit (of not more than $1,000) and
trap tags (of not more than $5 per trap) (see Fish and Game Code
§8276.5). Each trap has a permanent tag with the owner's name
and phone number on it and each trap tag has the valid
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department Dungeness crab permit number and year on it. The
buoy attached to the trap to help mark its location at the water
surface has the commercial fishing license number of the owner
attached to it.
The original task force was created by SB 1690 (Wiggins, c. 727,
Statutes of 2008) and "sunsetted" in 2011. The task force was
re-established by SB 369 (Evans, c. 335, Statutes of 2011) later
that same year. SB 369 contained the provisions that
established the tiered crab limit fishery. The task force
continues to review and evaluate fishery issues, including the
tiered crab limit fishery and is required to provide
recommendations to the Legislature by January 1, 2017. The task
force and related Dungeness crab fishing statutory provisions
all sunset on April 1, 2019.
On January 15, 2016, the task force released a list of initial
recommendations. These include, among others:
1)Expressing concern about whale entanglements in Dungeness crab
gear.
2)Establishing a statewide industry-funded program to retrieve
lost fishing gear (with departmental involvement).
3)Allowing waivers from certain crab permit fees for those whose
mandatory military service obligations will not allow
participation in the fishery for a season or seasons.
4)Allowing vessels containing traps with valid Oregon and
Washington trap tags to transit the state's waters without
state-required permits if certain conditions are met.
5)Revising state law that prohibits commercial Dungeness crab
trap permitholders from fishing in multiple management areas
for 30 days when one management area opens for fishing after
another due to start-delaying conditions (these are "fair
start" provisions).
There were 61 whale entanglements in fishing gear off the US
West Coast in 2015. This is the highest total since records
started being kept in 1982. As recently as 2002 fewer than 5
entanglements were reported per year. Entangled whales include
those, such as the humpback, that are protected under the
Endangered Species Act and/or the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
It is not known with certainty what factors are responsible for
this recent steep rise in entanglements. Changes in whale
number, fishery location and efforts, and ocean conditions,
among others, have been suggested as possible contributors.
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Although most of the gear responsible for the entanglements is
not specifically known, at least 11 of the entanglements were
associated with the Dungeness crab fishery.
Over the last two commercial Dungeness crab seasons, pilot
projects implementing voluntary lost fishing gear recovery
programs have been operated statewide. The SeaDoc Society in
partnership with Humboldt State University and the Half Moon Bay
Seafood Marketing Association in partnership with the Natural
Conservancy have both administered fishermen-led programs that
have resulted in the recovery of hundreds of lost and abandoned
traps. Results ranged from 18 traps and additional equipment in
one day of retrieval effort to about 300 traps over 7 days of
retrieval effort. The department, in collaboration with the
National Marine Fisheries Service and the Ocean Protection
Council, has held public and stakeholder meetings to explore how
to reduce entanglements. Task force members have participated
in these meetings. Short-term strategies to address
entanglement included training fishermen, establishing a
state-wide lost gear retrieval program, improving data
collection and enhancing reporting, potential gear
modifications, the development of best practices and more.
Existing law regulating commercial fishing traps makes it
unlawful, except as specified, to willfully or recklessly
disturb, move, or damage any trap that belongs to another person
and that is marked with a buoy identification number. Existing
law authorizes the department, in consultation with the crab
task force to develop regulations as necessary to provide for
retrieval of lost or abandoned commercial crab traps.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would establish the "Whale Protection and Crab Gear
Retrieval Act" which, beyond the retrieval program, includes
additional provisions related to the Dungeness crab fishery that
are recommended by the task force.
Specifically the bill would:
1)Revise the department's existing requirement to develop
regulations for the retrieval of lost or abandoned commercial
Dungeness crab traps consistent with the following:
a) The establishment of a retrieval permit that allows the
permit holder to retrieve lost or abandoned commercial
Dungeness crab traps belonging to others during the closed
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season of the fishery.
b) The trap retrieval permit program shall be funded by a
fee levied on a Dungeness crab vessel permitholder for each
trap owned by the permitholder retrieved through the trap
retrieval program. The fee shall be set to cover the
reasonable regulatory costs associated with the program and
to provide reasonable per trap compensation to a retrieval
permitholder, as specified. The retrieval permit holder
shall receive compensation on a per retrieved trap basis
from this fee.
c) The owner of the retrieved trap must pay the retrieval
trap fee prior to having the trap returned, and the
retrieved trap owner's Dungeness crab vessel permit shall
not be renewed until any fees due under the retrieval
permit program are paid.
d) The department shall determine how retrieved traps will
be stored and owners of the retrieved traps will be
notified. In addition the department has the authority to
adopt and implement any other necessary requirements for
the trap retrieval permit program
e) The department shall provide the proposed program to the
task force for review, as specified, and the department
shall not implement the program until the task force has
had at least 60 days to review and recommend changes, if
any, to the program. If the task force recommends it, the
director may implement the program earlier.
2)Revise the "fair start" provisions to apply to a person using
the same Dungeness crab vessel to take crab in specified
waters before moving to different areas where the opening has
been delayed, as specified.
3)Provide that the department shall waive the biennial fee for
trap tags for participants who are unable to fish due to
mandatory military service and the participant requests the
waiver at the same time the biennial crab trap limit permit is
renewed, as specified. A recipient of a waiver may apply to
fish for crab during the 2nd year, but must pay the full
biennial cost of the tags. There is no limit on the number of
times this waiver may be sought.
4)Provide that a vessel may transit state waters carrying traps
without California tags if the traps have Oregon or Washington
tags, no crab are onboard and the traps are not deployed in
state waters.
5)Make legislative findings related to the retrieval program.
6)All provisions in this bill sunset as of April 1, 2019, as
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specified.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the Trinidad Bay Fishermen's Marketing Association,
the SB 1287 crab trap retrieval program is needed because
"[t]his problem has existed since crab fishing began. Some of
the gear left behind is stuck and abandoned. Some of the gear
has been moved around by rough ocean, floating kelp, etc. and is
truly lost."
They continue to describe their success participating in one of
the pilot gear recovery programs and state that "our goal now,
through this bill, is to establish a program with the help of
the [department] that accomplishes the same great results. The
difference being it will be funded by mandatory fees charged to
the owners of the retrieved gear. [?] The fees will provide
financial incentive for boats to retrieve gear that has been
left after the end of the season. More importantly, this will
motivate the owners to take care of much of their derelict gear
before the season ends to avoid the mandatory fees."
"We have not seen a bad winter in a lot of years, but one will
come, and there will be thousands of derelict pots, instead of
hundreds, to retrieve. Instead of having a big mess and no good
way to deal with it, we will have the solution to the problem in
place (SB 1287). No matter what kind of winter we have, this
program will always be necessary."
"We feel it is our duty to leave the ocean environment free from
derelict crab gear. This will reduce entanglement hazards for
marine mammals, gear that is actively being fished, and other
mariners."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received
COMMENTS
Solves existing problems . There is no legal way for a boat
carrying commercial Dungeness crab traps to use state waters
unless the crab traps have California tags. In the existing
"fair start" provisions, all of the vessels of a single owner
are treated as one entity. Therefore fishing by one vessel in a
location restricts where other vessels owned by the same person
may fish. Similarly lost trap retrieval by someone other than
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the owner of the trap is currently illegal. While lost gear
from other fisheries likely contributes to the whale
entanglement problem, lost commercial Dungeness crab traps have
been linked to entanglements.
The camel's nose ? The Dungeness crab fishery is restricted.
Permits must be renewed every year (or, as possible,
transferred, if necessary, and renewed) to remain valid. To the
best of Committee staff's knowledge, all commercial fishing
permits and licenses must be renewed every year and paid in full
for the permit to remain valid. It is unknown how many members
of the commercial Dungeness crab fishery may benefit from the
fee waiver provision in this bill (although informal estimates
are a handful). The military fee waiver provision in this bill
would set a precedent for commercial fisheries.
Work-in-progress . The sunset date for the provisions in this
bill is before the official end of the 2018/2019 commercial
season. There would be two possible seasons for the
department's lost gear retrieval program - after the 2016/2017
and 2017/2018 seasons. The bill's language provides for the
time allotted for the task force's review of the program to be
abbreviated, but this may not be the driving factor in the time
needed for the development and implementation of the program.
Should the bill pass this Committee, the author may wish to
consider further how to ensure timely implementation of the lost
gear retrieval program.
Delayed opening of the 2015/2016 commercial Dungeness crab
season . Due to high concentrations of domoic acid found in
crab, the commercial Dungeness crab fishery opening (among other
crab fisheries) was delayed from November 15, 2015 due to public
health concerns. Domoic acid, a potent neurotoxin, was produced
by a large algal bloom. Regular testing of crab continued and
the health advisories for Dungeness crab and other crab species
were subsequently lifted for crab caught in much of the state's
coastal waters. On March 26, 2016 the commercial Dungeness crab
fishery opened in coastal waters south of the Sonoma/Mendocino
County line. In early February, Governor Brown requested
federal declarations of a fishery disaster and a commercial
fishery failure due to the domoic acid-forced closure in an
effort to obtain economic assistance.
The state's current commercial Dungeness crab fishery . The crab
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trap limit program was implemented for the 2013/2014 season.
According to the department, as of October 2015 there were 561
Dungeness crab trap limit permits which allowed for a maximum of
174,125 traps in state waters. Approximately 1,400 trap tags
were replaced during the 2014/2015 season and another 11,700
were replaced after it. Not all permit holders replaced tags and
those that did replaced as few as 1 tag to as many as 500. The
tags replaced between seasons likely included tags for traps
that were being replaced.
Related recent legislation
SB 1363 (Monning, 2016) would require the formation of the Ocean
Acidification and Hypoxia Program, as specified (pending before
the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee)
AB 1470 (Alejo, 2016) would establish the Harmful Algal Bloom
task force, as specified (held in the Assembly Water, Parks and
Wildlife Committee)
AB 2363 (Chesbro, c.546, Statutes of 2012) revised some of the
Dungeness crab fishery requirements and added the requirement
that the department develop regulations for a lost gear program.
SUPPORT
Blue Fisheries
California Coastkeeper Alliance
Californians Against Waste
Cap'n Zach's Crabhouse Inc. - FV Miss Phyllis
Center for Biological Diversity
Crescent City Commercial Fishermen's Association
Earthjustice
FV Corregidor
Golden Gate Fishermen's Association
Golden Gate Salmon Association
Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association/Half Moon Bay
Commercial Fisheries Trust
Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers, Inc.
the Marine Mammal Center
Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen's Association, Inc.
Natural Resources Defense Council
Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom
Northcoast Environmental Center
Oceana
Ocean Conservancy
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Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
Sierra Club California
Surfrider Foundation
Trinidad Bay Fishermen's Marketing Association, Inc.
OPPOSITION
None Received
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