BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1287|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1287
Author: McGuire (D), et al.
Amended: 8/18/16
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
SENATE FLOOR: 39-0, 6/1/16
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone,
Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 56-22, 8/25/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Fishing
SOURCE: Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
DIGEST: This bill establishes a program and fee for the
retrieval of lost or abandoned Dungeness crab traps and makes
other changes relative to Dungeness crab permits and emergency
fisheries closures.
SB 1287
Page 2
Assembly Amendments revise the procedures for emergency closures
of fisheries to protect public health in light of recent
experience with crab fishery closures by providing to the
Director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife authority, based
upon a science-based recommendation of the public health hazard
from the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, as
specified, to close and re-open fisheries. This is similar to
the Director's existing authority in the event of an oil spill.
Chaptering amendments were also added.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Provides for the regulation of the recreational and
commercial Dungeness crab fishery with certain statutory
requirements.
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 commercial 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
SB 1287
Page 3
$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
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.
8) Authorizes the director of the department to seek emergency
regulations from the commission to close a commercial fishery
in the event that the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment determines that the fish pose a human health
hazard. The commission has existing authority to promulgate
SB 1287
Page 4
emergency regulations for recreational fisheries.
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
program to the Dungeness crab task force to review, as
specified.
2) Revises the "fair start" provisions to apply to a person
SB 1287
Page 5
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) Sunsets this bill's provisions related to the Dungeness crab
fishery on April 1, 2019, as specified.
6) Authorizes the Department's director, based upon a
science-based recommendation from the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment and the State Public Health Officer,
as specified, to close a fishery where the fish pose a human
health hazard due to the presence of toxic substances.
Similarly, the director shall re-open the fishery when
notified, as specified, that the hazard is no longer a
concern.
a) The director shall notify the commission and request
that the commission take public comment on the closure at
its next schedule meeting.
7) Makes legislative findings related to the retrieval program,
updates relevant code references and includes chaptering
amendments for SB 1473 (Senate Natural Resources & Water
Committee).
Background
SB 1287
Page 6
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.
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
SB 1287
Page 7
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. Due to the need to hold the emergency meeting, the
official fishery closure was delayed - the fisheries were
officially closed when emergency regulations went into effect
some weeks later. As emergency regulations are time-limited,
they needed to be re-adopted twice. 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 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, although the rock crab fishery remained limited north
of Pigeon Point. The Ocean Protection Council has created a
multi-agency task force in order to improve response to harmful
algal blooms, such as high domoic acid concentrations.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis,
there are the following costs associated with this bill:
1)First-year Department costs of approximately $185,000 (Fish
SB 1287
Page 8
and Game Preservation Fund) to adopt regulations, and contract
with a non-governmental organization to operate the program.
2)Ongoing Department annual costs of approximately $110,000 per
year (Fish and Game Preservation Fund) for program tracking
and oversight.
Regulatory costs and costs of providing compensation for the
retrieval of crab traps are intended to be offset by the new
fee.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/25/16)
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (source)
Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom
Blue Fisheries
California Coastkeeper Alliance
Californians Against Waste
Cap'n Zach's Crabhouse
Center for Biological Diversity
County of Del Norte
Crescent City Fishermen's Association
Defenders of Wildlife
Earthjustice
FV Corregidor
Golden Gate Fishermen's Association
Golden Gate Salmon Association
Half Moon Bay Commercial Fisheries Trust
Half Moon Bay Groundfish Marketing Association
Humane Society of the United States
Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers, Inc.
Marine Mammal Center, The
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen's Organization, Inc.
Natural Resources Defense Council
Northcoast Environmental Center
SB 1287
Page 9
Ocean Conservancy
Oceana
SeaWorld
Sierra Club California
Surfrider Foundation
Trinidad Bay Fishermen's Marketing Association, Inc.
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/25/16)
None received
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."
SB 1287
Page 10
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 56-22, 8/25/16
AYES: Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta,
Brown, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Levine,
Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, McCarty, Medina, Mullin,
Nazarian, O'Donnell, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas,
Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Waldron, Weber,
Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Travis Allen, Bigelow, Brough, Chang, Chávez, Dahle,
Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Harper, Jones, Kim, Lackey,
Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson,
Steinorth, Wagner, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Achadjian, Burke
Prepared by:Katharine Moore / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
8/25/16 18:20:30
**** END ****