BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2146|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2146
Author: Leno (D)
Amended: 8/23/04 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WILD. COMMITTEE : 6-3, 6/22/04
AYES: Kuehl, Alpert, Bowen, Ortiz, Sher, Torlakson
NOES: Oller, Denham, Hollingsworth
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-4, 8/12/04
AYES: Alpert, Bowen, Burton, Karnette, Machado, Murray,
Speier
NOES: Battin, Aanestad, Ashburn, Poochigian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Escutia, Johnson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 47-30, 5/25/04 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Dungeness crab
SOURCE : Crab Boat Owners Association, Inc.
DIGEST : This bill authorizes, but does not require, the
Fish and Game Commission to adopt regulations to ensure the
protection of the Dungeness crab resource and to establish
an advisory council, establishes a trap limitation in
designated districts of 250 traps per vessel, and makes
violation of that limitation a misdemeanor.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/23/04 reduce concerns of the
State Department of Fish and Game regarding costs by
permitting the State Fish and Game Commission (Commission)
CONTINUED
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to establish a landing fee to cover departmental costs.
Also, the amendments impose, at least through 2007, a
250-trap limit per vessel statewide. Formerly, the bill
would have applied that limit only from Sonoma County south
to San Mateo County. The amendments also establish a
stakeholder process to consider modifications to that
limit. Another technical amendment to the existing
Dungeness crab statutes will also be deleted.
According to the Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife
Committee, the amendments are consistent with the bill's
original intent of helping local fishermen resist the
marketing power of larger boats, some of which are from
other states, and to grant the Commission regulatory
authority over this fishery consistent with its existing
responsibilities regarding other fisheries.
ANALYSIS : The Fish and Game Code regulates this
commercial resource with restrictions on the number and
types of vessels that may take crab, limits on the season,
and limits on the type of gear that may be used to take
crab. This is a closed fishery, meaning that new entrants
must purchase an existing license.
Currently, south of Mendocino County, the season opens on
November 15. North of Mendocino County, the season opens on
December 1.
This bill authorizes, but does not require, the Commission
to adopt regulations to ensure the protection of the
Dungeness crab resource and for an orderly crab fishery,
and to establish an advisory council of five members who
represent the geographic range of the fishery and whose
names are submitted by representatives of organizations
that represent Dungeness crab fishermen.
The bill contains numerous findings concerning the need to
take precautionary measures that establish the
sustainability of the resource. To that end, the bill
imposes a limit of 250 crab traps per season for each
licensed vessel from Fish and Game District 10 southward to
the southernmost reach of the fishery. District 10 ranges
from the Sonoma-Mendocino line to the northern boundary of
San Mateo County. South of District 10 are districts 17
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(Santa Cruz and northern Monterey), District 18 (the
remainder of Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara
counties), and District 19 (Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange,
and San Diego).
The bill also prohibits an owner of a vessel with a permit
from using that permit on another vessel owned by another
person.
The bill requires the Commission, on or after March 15,
2007, but not later than August 30, 2007, to consider
recommendations from the State Department of Fish and Game
(DFG) and Dungeness crab vessel permit holders, based on
the experience of operating with a 250-trap limit, on
whether to take any of the following actions: (1) extend
the operation of the 250-trap limit beyond June 30, 2007,
(2) increase or decrease the trap limit, and (3) make any
other modifications of the operation of the 250-trap limit.
The bill also requires the Commission, after consultation
with the DFG and Dungeness crab vessel permit holders, to
either adjust the crab vessel permit fee for persons taking
crab in and south of District 10, or establish a landing
fee or vessel stamp, as the Commission determines
necessary, to cover all reasonable costs incurred by the
DFG in administering and enforcing the provisions of this
section. Requires the Commission to take into account the
permit fees currently paid by crab vessel owners.
It also specifies that a violation of the 250-trap limit is
punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of not
more than $5,000. The bill makes a technical change in the
requirements for removing crab traps from the ocean.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
Unknown.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/18/04) (Unable to reverify at time
of this writing)
Crab Boat Owners Association, Inc. (source)
Aqua Marine Inc.
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California Association of Harbor Masters and Port Captains
Chinese Commercial Fishing Association
County of Sonoma
Ecotrust
Fisherman's Marketing Association of Bodega Bay
Fisherman's Wharf Waterfront Advisory Group
Frank's Fisherman's Supply Inc.
Golden Gate Restaurant Association
Half Moon Bay Fisherman's Marketing Association
Morgan Fish Company
Morning Star Fisheries
Natural Resources Defense Council
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
San Mateo County Harbor District
Scoma's Restaurant, Inc.
The Monterey Fish Market
The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/18/04) (Unable to reverify at
time of this writing)
All Seas Wholesale
Caito Fisheries, Inc.
California Fisheries & Seafood Institute
California Shellfish Company
F. Alioto Fish Company
Lusamerica Foods, Inc.
Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen's Organization Inc.
Pacific Fresh Sea Food Company, Inc.
Slade Gorton & Company
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the sponsor, the Crab
Boat Owners Association, Inc., based in San Francisco, the
bill helps local boats resist the marketing power of larger
boats that come into the earlier southern season in
California and then harvest crab again in the later
northern California season. The sponsor believes that the
provisions in the bill will prolong processing jobs on land
and harvesting jobs at sea because the supply of crab will
be steadier without an early glut caused by the larger
boats.
The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
considers the trap limit similar to those in Washington and
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Alaska. It also supports a specific grant of authority to
the Fish and Game Commission to develop Dungeness crab
regulations.
Ecotrust believes that if resources such as crab are to
survive, that fishing should be limited to small boat
fleets and the communities that support them. It supports
policies that promote equity, sustainability, and fleet
diversity.
Natural Resources Defense Council supports the bill and
notes that the lack of a trap limit allows fishermen to
increase their effort with regard to this resource despite
the limited entry system. It notes that closures of other
fisheries is creating pressures on the crab resource.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Morro Bay Commercial
Fishermen's Organization believes the bill will have an
adverse fiscal effect on its members.
Caito Fisheries in Ft. Bragg does not believe that an
optimum level for the crab fishery can ever be established,
given the cyclical nature of the fishery, the minimum size
limit, and the prohibition on take of females.
Other individual fishermen from northern California oppose
the bill as overtly preferential and an attempt to limit a
significant portion of this fishery "to an exclusive few."
Pacific Choice Seafood contends that the bill is intended
to limit competition and favor only the smallest operators.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Berg, Calderon, Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu,
Cohn, Corbett, Correa, Diaz, Dutra, Dymally, Firebaugh,
Frommer, Goldberg, Hancock, Harman, Jerome Horton,
Jackson, Kehoe, Koretz, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Liu,
Longville, Lowenthal, Matthews, Montanez, Mullin, Nakano,
Nation, Oropeza, Parra, Pavley, Reyes, Ridley-Thomas,
Salinas, Simitian, Steinberg, Vargas, Wesson, Wiggins,
Wolk, Yee, Nunez
NOES: Aghazarian, Bates, Benoit, Bogh, Campbell, Cogdill,
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Cox, Daucher, Dutton, Garcia, Haynes, Shirley Horton,
Houston, Keene, La Malfa, La Suer, Maddox, Maldonado,
Maze, McCarthy, Mountjoy, Nakanishi, Pacheco, Plescia,
Richman, Runner, Samuelian, Spitzer, Strickland, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bermudez, Leslie, Negrete McLeod
CP:mel 8/22/04 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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