BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2063
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 14, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2063 (Huffman) - As Amended: March 15, 2010
Policy Committee: Water, Parks and
Wildlife Vote: 12-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill designates the Chinook salmon as the official state
anadromous fish. The bill also states Legislative intent that
the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) use the best available
science and life-cycle analysis in prioritizing conservation and
planning efforts for salmonid fish, and makes related findings
and declarations.
FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible costs.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . Chinook salmon are critical to the state's fishing
activity and to the state's marine ecosystem. The Chinook are
in serious decline, however, with several distinct Chinook
salmon runs having been listed as endangered. The author
contends this bill provides a cost-free mechanism to increase
awareness of this vital fish, and that such awareness may
enhance its protection and restoration.
2)Background.
a) Anadromous fish are born in fresh cold water streams,
migrate to the ocean where they spend most of their adult
lives, and return to spawn in the streams of their birth.
The Chinook salmon is one of several species of anadromous
fish living in California waters. Others include Coho
salmon, steelhead trout, sturgeon, stickleback, and pacific
lamprey, as well as nonnative stripped bass and American
AB 2063
Page 2
shad. Several distinct populations of Chinook salmon have
existed in California for centuries.
More than other anadromous fish, excepting possibly its
cousin, the Coho, the Chinook has long been of great
importance to the state. Chinook salmon were, and in some
cases still are, an important food source for the state's
indigenous peoples. More recently, the Chinook have
supported thriving commercial and recreational fisheries
along the California coast and the coasts of its neighbors.
The Chinook is also a major food source for Orca and other
animals.
b) Chinook Fishery in Decline . Today, all Chinook salmon
runs in California are in decline. Between 2002 and 2009,
the Central Valley Fall Chinook run, historically one of
the most productive, declined by 95%, dropping from 738,000
to 39,500. Two of the four distinct Chinook runs in the
Central Valley are listed under the state and federal
endangered species acts.
In response to this decline, the California salmon season
has been closed for the past two seasons. This
unprecedented action has left many fishermen without
livelihood and may be costing the state billions of
dollars.
c) Garibaldi and Golden Trout-California's State Fish .
State law already designates two fish as the official state
fish. Since 1947, state law has designated the Golden
Trout the state's official freshwater fish. The Golden
Trout is a colorful salmonid native to streams of the
Sierra Nevada Mountains and popular with anglers. In 1993,
the Garibaldi-an intensely orange and now protected fish
frequently seen in waters in some areas of the California
coast-became the state's official marine fish.
3)Support. This bill is supported by numerous commercial and
recreational fishing groups, related industries, and several
conservation groups.
4)There is no opposition to this bill on file .
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081