BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1287|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1287
Author: McGuire (D), et al.
Amended: 5/31/16
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 8-1, 4/12/16
AYES: Pavley, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson, Monning,
Vidak, Wolk
NOES: Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/27/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
SUBJECT: Commercial fishing: Dungeness crab
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill establishes the "Whale Protection and Crab
Gear Retrieval Act" that includes, beyond the retrieval program,
additional provisions related to the Dungeness crab fishery.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Provides for the regulation of the Dungeness crab fishery.
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2) Establishes the Dungeness crab task force as 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 (commission).
3) Establishes certain requirements for participation in the
state's Dungeness crab fishery. The Dungeness crab fishery
is a restricted fishery, and the ability to purchase
appropriate permits to participate in the fishery is limited
to those who meet certain criteria.
a) The criteria include limits on the number of traps
each permit holder may obtain and biennial fees for these
traps including a crab trap limit permit (of not more than
$1,000) and trap tags (of not more than $5 per trap). The
state 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.
4) Prohibits a person from using any vessel to take Dungeness
crab for commercial purposes without a Dungeness crab vessel
permit. Additionally, it prohibits a person from taking
Dungeness crab for commercial purposes from a vessel in
specified ocean waters for 30 days after the opening of the
Dungeness crab fishing season if the opening of the season
has been delayed in those waters and that person has taken,
possessed, or landed Dungeness crab in other specified waters
prior to that opening. (This is a "fair start" provision.)
5) Regulates commercial fishing traps and 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.
6) Authorizes the Department, in consultation with the
Dungeness crab task force to develop regulations as necessary
to provide for the retrieval of lost or abandoned commercial
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crab traps.
7) Sunsets the Dungeness crab task force, the tiered crab trap
program, the vessel permit requirement to take Dungeness
crab, the season opening crab fishing restrictions and the
Department's authorization to develop regulations to retrieve
lost or abandoned commercial crab traps on April 1, 2019.
This bill establishes the "Whale Protection and Crab Gear
Retrieval Act" that includes, beyond the retrieval program,
additional provisions related to the Dungeness crab fishery
recommended by the Dungeness crab task force and to close
fisheries to protect public health. Specifically, this bill:
1) Revises 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
season of the fishery.
b) The trap retrieval permit program shall be funded by a
fee levied on a Dungeness crab vessel permit holder for
each trap owned by the permit holder retrieved through the
trap retrieval program, as specified. The owner of the
retrieved trap must pay the fee in order to have the trap
returned and cannot renew his or her Dungeness crab vessel
permit until any fees due under the trap retrieval program
are paid. The Department is directed to set fees to
recover the reasonable regulatory costs of the program.
The program shall be cost-effective and efficient and the
Department may receive help from non-governmental
organizations to implement it.
c) The Department shall determine certain aspects of the
retrieval program and shall provide the proposed retrieval
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program to the Dungeness crab task force to review, as
specified.
2) Revises 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) Provides that the Department shall waive the biennial fee
for trap tags for participants who are unable to fish due to
mandatory military service, as specified.
4) Provides 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) Makes legislative findings related to the retrieval program.
6) Sunsets this bill's provisions related to the Dungeness crab
fishery on April 1, 2019, as specified.
Background
The Dungeness crab task force was created in 2008, briefly
sunsetted in 2011 and was re-established in revised form later
that same year. 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. 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.
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2)Establishing a statewide industry-funded program to retrieve
lost fishing gear with the Department's involvement.
3)Allowing waivers from certain crab permit fees for those whose
mandatory military service obligations bar 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 on management area opens for fishing after
another due to start-delaying conditions.
There were 61 whale entanglements in fishing gear off the U.S.
west coast reported in 2015. This is the highest total since
records started being kept in 1982. Engtangled 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 what factors have contributed to the steep rise
in reported entanglements. At least 11 entanglements were
associated with the Dungeness crab fishery.
Recent crab fishery closure. In late 2015, domoic acid levels
in certain crab species, including Dungeness crab, reached
levels that posed a public health risk. The Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, in collaboration with
the Department of Public Health, notified the Department
director who then sought to close relevant fisheries through
emergency regulations approved at an emergency meeting of the
commission. The fisheries were officially closed when emergency
regulations went into effect some weeks later. The Department
had asked fishing efforts to stop as soon as the public health
risk was identified. Regular monitoring of domoic acid
concentrations continued and the crab fisheries were slowly
reopened across the state. In early February, Governor Brown
requested federal declarations of a fishery disaster and a
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commercial fishery failure due to the domoic acid-forced closure
in an effort to obtain economic assistance. 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 almost $50 million per vessel per calendar
year. As of late May, the commercial and recreational Dungeness
crab fishery was open statewide.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Approximately $500,000 annually for staffing and equipment
costs. This cost may be significantly reduced by the use
third parties to administer the program, and may be in part or
entirely funded by fees assessed on Dungeness crab vessel
operators whose traps are retrieved under the program.
Unknown, but likely minimal, costs to issue waivers from the
biennial fee for each trap tag for participants who are unable
to fish due to mandatory military service.
SUPPORT: (Verified5/27/16)
California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom
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
Del Norte County Board of Supervisors
Earthjustice
FV Corregidor
Golden Gate Fishermen's Association
Golden Gate Salmon Association
Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association/Half Moon Bay
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Commercial Fisheries Trust
Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers, Inc.
Marine Mammal Center
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen's Organization, Inc.
Natural Resources Defense Council
Northcoast Environmental Center
Oceana
Ocean Conservancy
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
Sierra Club California
Surfrider Foundation
Trinidad Bay Fishermen's Marketing Association, Inc.
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/27/16)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the Trinidad Bay
Fishermen's Marketing Association, Inc., 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
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ocean environment free from derelict crab gear. This will
reduce entanglement hazards for marine mammals, gear that is
actively being fished, and other mariners."
Prepared by:Katharine Moore / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
6/1/16 10:00:12
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