BILL ANALYSIS
Bill No: AB
2063
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Roderick D. Wright, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
Staff Analysis
AB 2063 Author: Huffman
As Amended: June 14, 2010
Hearing Date: June 22, 2010
Consultant: Art Terzakis
SUBJECT
Chinook and Coho Salmon
DESCRIPTION
AB 2063 designates the Chinook salmon as the official state
"anadromous" fish and establishes goals for salmon
recovery. Specifically, this measure:
1.Makes various Legislative findings and declarations
regarding the natural history, value, ecological and
economic importance of Chinook salmon and other salmonid
species to the state.
2.Proclaims a state goal of restoring Chinook salmon and
other salmonid species to sustainable levels within a
decade.
3.States Legislative intent that the Department of Fish and
Game (DFG) and the Fish and Game Commission (FGC) work
together with other public/private stakeholders to
restore salmonid populations using best available science
in determining where to focus and prioritize planning
efforts for recovery.
4.Designates the Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus) the state
anadromous fish.
EXISTING LAW
AB 2063 (Huffman) continued
Page 2
Existing law designates the following as official state
insignia:
State Flower - "Golden Poppy" (Added by Stats.1903, c.
69)
State Bird - "California Valley Quail" (Added by
Stats.1931, c. 777)
State Tree - "California Redwood" includes both the coast
redwood (Sequoia empervirens) and the Sierra big tree
(Sequoia gigantea) - (Added by Stats.1943, c. 134;
Amended by Stats.1953, c. 1140)
State Theatre - "Pasadena Playhouse" (Added by
Stats.1937, Resolution Chapter 45)
State Fish - "California Golden Trout" (Added by
Stats.1947, Resolution Chapter 90)
State Song - "I Love You California" (Added by
Stats.1951, Resolution Chapter 87)
State Animal - "California Grizzly" (Added by Stats.1953,
c. 1140)
State Motto - "Eureka" (Added by Stats.1963, c. 1237)
State Rock - "Serpentine" (Added by Stats.1965, c. 89)
State Mineral - "Native Gold" (Added by Stats.1965, c.
89)
State Nickname - "Golden State" (Added by Stats.1968, c.
66)
State Reptile - "Desert Tortoise" (Added by Stats.1972,
c. 683)
State Insect - "California Dogface Butterfly" (Added by
Stats.1972, c. 521)
State Fossil - "Sabre-Tooth Cat" (Added by Stats.1973, c.
792)
State Historical Society - "California Historical
Society" (Added by Stats.1979, c. 52)
State Marine Mammal - "California Gray Whale" (Added by
Stats.1975, c. 328)
State Gemstone - "Benitoite" (Added by Stats.1985, c.
1365)
State Folk Dance - "Square Dance" (Added by Stats.1988,
c. 1645)
State Dance - "West Coast Swing" (Added by Stats.1988, c.
1645)
State Prehistoric Artifact - "Chipped Stone Bear" (Added
by Stats.1991, c. 73)
State Marine Fish - "Garibaldi" (Added by Stats.1995, c.
948)
State Soil - "San Joaquin Soil" (Added by Stats.1997, c.
AB 2063 (Huffman) continued
Page 3
331)
State Fife and Drum Band - "California Consolidated Drum
Band" (Added by Stats.1997, c. 58)
State Tartan - "Based on the family tartan of the revered
John Muir" (blue and green with red, gold, and blue
seams); (Added by Stats.2001, c. 100)
State Ghost Town - "Bodie" (Added by Stats. 2002, c. 365)
State Tall Ship - "Californian" (Added by Stats.2003, c.
113)
State Grass - "Nassella pulchra" (commonly known as
purple needlegrass); (Added by Stat.2004, c. 243)
State Military Museum - "California State Military Museum
& Resource Center" (Added by Stats.2004, c. 133)
Silver Rush Ghost Town - "Calico" (Added by Stats.2005,
c. 90)
Existing law, enacted in 1988, establishes a state policy
to significantly increase the natural production of salmon
by the end of the century and directs DFG to develop a plan
and program to double the natural production of salmon.
Both the federal Central Valley Project Improvement Act and
the state Delta Water Quality Control plan also call for
doubling of natural production.
BACKGROUND
Anadromous salmonid species native to California include
the Chinook, coho, pink and chum salmon as well as
steelhead and coastal cutthroat trout. Anadromous fish are
born in fresh, cold water streams, migrate to the ocean and
then return to spawn in the stream of their birth. Several
distinct populations of Chinook salmon have existed in
California for hundreds of years and longer. In the past
these runs have supported thriving commercial and
recreational fisheries. The first commercial harvest in
California of Chinook salmon was in the 1850s. Chinook
salmon have also played a major role in shaping
California's history, including serving as an important
food source and cultural icon for indigenous peoples and
early European settlers. Further, anadromous salmonids are
important components of the local fresh water, estuarine
and oceanic food webs and ecosystems throughout their
life-cycles. In recent years, all Chinook salmon runs in
California have been in decline, and two of the four
distinct runs (i.e. populations) in the Central Valley have
AB 2063 (Huffman) continued
Page 4
been listed under the state and federal endangered species
acts. Many of the other salmonid species in California are
also threatened, endangered or "species of concern" under
one or both of these laws.
The Central Valley Chinook fall run is the mainstay of the
recreational and commercial salmon industry in California
and much of the Pacific Coast. Due to the wide-ranging
geographic distribution of California's salmon in the ocean
and other factors, both federal and state agencies are
involved in salmon management in California. During the
last decade, Central Valley fall run Chinook populations
have dropped a dramatic 95% from 738,000 returning adult
fish in 2002 to only 39,500 in 2009. In response to this
precipitous decline, the Chinook salmon fishery was closed
in 2008 and 2009. Fishery closure was an unprecedented
step and economically devastating to the fishery industry
with financial and employment losses estimated at over $2
billion and 23,000 jobs, respectively. Scientific study
has primarily attributed the sudden collapse in the 2008
and 2009 returning salmon populations that forced the
closure of the fishery to shifts in the timing of ocean
upwelling in 2005 and 2006 when these salmon originally
entered the ocean. Existing fishery management practices,
however, including the predominance of hatchery-derived
fish in the Chinook fall run, likely produced a salmon
population more susceptible to wide gyrations in number.
Further, the overall multi-decadal decline in anadromous
salmonid populations from the regular runs of millions
reported in the 19th century to today is associated with
large scale loss and degradation of habitat resulting from
the settling and development of California, poor timber
management practices, and the introduction of non-native
predator species, among others.
The Salmon, Steelhead Trout, and Anadromous Fisheries
Program Act (c. 1054, Statutes of 1988) established a state
policy to significantly increase the natural production of
salmon by 2000. It directed the Department of Fish and Game
(DFG) to develop a plan and program to double the natural
production of salmon. Federal law - the Central Valley
Project Improvement Act - also establishes a goal of
doubling natural salmon production.
Arguments in Support: The author points out that "this
bill seeks to promote public education of the unique value
AB 2063 (Huffman) continued
Page 5
and benefit of Chinook salmon to the state by designating
Chinook salmon as the official state anadromous fish. It
also proclaims a state goal to restore Chinook salmon to
sustainable levels, sufficient to support viable
recreational, commercial and tribal fisheries" and states
legislative intent that the "best available science" be
used in planning efforts to promote salmon population
recovery.
The Crab Boat Owners Association argues that "these last
couple years of no salmon fishing has been extremely hard
on our members and their families." Further, the
California Association of Professional Scientists contends
that "restoring California's salmon population to
sustainable levels is vital to the ecosystem."
Arguments in Opposition: While acknowledging restoration
of California's salmon runs is "an honorable goal," the
Association of California Water Agencies believes "the bill
should reflect the co-equal goals of providing a more
reliable water supply and restoring the Delta ecosystem
which the Legislature followed in the passage of last
year's legislative water package. The bill states the
intent of restoring Chinook salmon within a decade, which
seems like an arbitrary time deadline."
"Furthermore, there are currently numerous environmental
laws and regulations which are intended to provide for the
protections of endangered or threatened species such as the
Chinook salmon. Placing an arbitrary timeline on the
restoration of the species would only complicate matters
further."
Comments: This measure passed out of the Senate Natural
Resources & Wildlife Committee on June 9, 2010 (5-2 vote)
and was dual referred to the Senate Committee on
Governmental Organization to address Section 2 which
relates to designating the Chinook salmon as the "official
state anadromous fish." California currently has two state
fish: The Golden Trout (fresh water, designated in 1947)
and the Garibaldi (marine, designated in 1993).
SUPPORT: As of June 18, 2010:
American Sportfishing Association
California Association of Professional Scientists
AB 2063 (Huffman) continued
Page 6
CalTrout
Coastside Fishing Club
Crab Boat Owners Association
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Golden Gate Fishermen's Association
Johnson Hicks Marine Electronics
Monterey Fish Market
Northern California/Nevada Council
Federation of Fly Fishers
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
The Nature Conservancy
Trout Unlimited
Water 4 Fish
OPPOSE: Association of California Water Agencies
FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations Committee
**********