BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AJR 44|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AJR 44
Author: Hill (D), et al
Amended: 8/9/10 in Assembly
Vote: 21
WITHOUT REFERENCE TO COMMITTEE OR FILE
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 57-16, 8/12/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Commercial whaling: moratoriums
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution requests the President and
Congress of the United States to provide for conservation
of whale stocks and memorializes the Legislature's
opposition to any proposal that would result in the
International Whaling Commission's lifting of the current
moratorium on commercial whaling.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, the International Convention for
the Regulation of Whaling, was ratified by the United
States in 1946. The Convention established the
International Whaling Commission (IWC), the purpose of
which is to provide for conservation of whale stocks and
make possible the orderly development of the whaling
industry. The IWC implemented a moratorium on commercial
whaling in 1986.
This resolution makes the following legislative findings:
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1. Makes various legislative findings and declarations
regarding the intelligence and importance of whales to
ocean ecosystems, to Californians and to coastal
industries, including tourism, and regarding the
negative impacts of whaling on these species.
2. Declares that legalizing commercial whaling would
decimate whale stocks and is contrary to this state's
goal of protecting our marine mammal populations,
fisheries and ocean resources.
3. Requests the President and Congress to do everything in
their power to provide for the proper conservation of
whale stocks, and declares the Legislature's opposition
to any proposal that would result in the IWC's lifting
of the commercial whaling moratorium, which would have
the effect of authorizing new whaling quotas for nations
that have been violating the current moratorium and
allow whale hunting in the Southern Ocean Whale
Sanctuary.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/18/10)
Bodega Bay Concerned Citizens of Sonoma County
Buena Vista Audubon Society
Cabrillo Wetlands Conservancy
California Coastal Commission
Heal the Bay
Los Padres Sierra Club
Madrone Audobon Society
Ocean Outfall Group
Origami Whales Project
Save the Whales
Sea & Sage Audubon
Sierra Club of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office notes that
despite the 1986 moratorium established by the IWC, the
number of whales killed annually has risen steadily from
300 in 1990 to nearly 1,700 in 2009, as the three whaling
nations have refused to comply and have either opted out of
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the treaty, continuing to hunt whales commercially, or
claimed to be taking whales only for scientific study.
There is concern that lifting the moratorium would serve to
legitimize commercial whaling and could devastate whale
populations. The author's office asserts that as a coastal
state dedicated to protection of our marine mammal
populations, fisheries, and ocean resources, California has
a responsibility to provide for proper conservation of
whales.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Blakeslee,
Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto,
Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, Nielsen, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner,
Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson,
Torres, Torrico, Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Fuller, Gaines,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Knight, Logue, Miller,
Nestande, Niello, Norby, Silva, Tran
NO VOTE RECORDED: Tom Berryhill, Cook, DeVore, Eng,
Harkey, Huber, Vacancy
CTW:mw 8/18/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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