BILL ANALYSIS
SB 21
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 21 (Simitian)
As Amended August 18, 2010
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE : 23-10
WATER, PARKS & WILDLIFE 8-3 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Huffman, Arambula, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Bradford, |
| |Blumenfield, Caballero, | |Charles Calderon, Coto, |
| |Fletcher, | |Davis, De Leon, Gatto, |
| |Bonnie Lowenthal, Salas, | |Hall, Skinner, Solorio, |
| |Yamada | |Torlakson, Torrico |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Fuller, Anderson, Tom |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, |
| |Berryhill | |Nielsen, Norby |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Directs the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to
publicize telephone numbers and Web addresses to which derelict
fishing gear can be reported. Specifically, this bill :
1)Directs the DFG, on or before January 1, 2012, to include on
commercial fishing licenses and in all appropriate official
brochures any toll-free telephone numbers, if available, for
the purpose of reporting derelict fishing gear, and any
available addresses for Internet Web sites that maintain a
reporting system for derelict fishing gear.
2)Authorizes the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) to develop
recommendations for identification, removal and disposal of
derelict fishing gear.
3)Contains related legislative intent, and defines "derelict
fishing gear", for the purposes of this bill, as commercial
fishing equipment that has become lost or abandoned.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Generally gives DFG and Fish and Game Commission (FGC)
jurisdiction over commercial fishing and responsibility for
administration and enforcement of the Fish and Game Code.
SB 21
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2)Requires set nets and set lines, which are nets or lines
anchored to the bottom on each end and not free to drift with
the tide or current, to be marked with the fisherman's
identification number. Requires lost set nets that can not be
recovered to be reported within 72 hours after returning to
port following the loss. Authorizes FGC to revoke the owner's
permit for failure to comply with these requirements, and to
require the owner of a lost or abandoned set net recovered by
DFG to pay the recovery costs.
3)Directs the OPC to coordinate activities of state agencies
that involve protection of the ocean ecosystem. Authorizes
monies in the Ocean Protection Trust Fund to be used for
grants and loans to, among other things, encourage development
and use of more selective fishing gear.
FISCAL EFFECT : Minor absorbable costs to DFG beginning in
2011-12 to provide specified information on fishing licenses and
brochures (Fish and Game Preservation Fund), and minor one-time
costs to OPC, in the tens of thousands of dollars, to the extent
it chooses to develop recommendations regarding derelict fishing
gear and procedures to enable fishers to voluntarily recover,
remove, and keep on board derelict fishing gear (Special funds.)
COMMENTS : This bill intends to reduce the negative effects of
derelict (illegally discarded or lost) fishing gear, commonly
known as ghost fishing. Derelict fishing gear is known to cause
wasted seafood and needless damage to marine resources and
habitat.
Because modern fishing gear, such as fishing nets and fishing
line, is made from synthetic materials that do not degrade for
many years, it persists in the marine environment where it
creates a suite of problems. The dangers of lost fishing gear
include entangling divers and swimmers; trapping and killing
fish, shellfish, birds and marine mammals; degrading habitats;
damaging propellers and rudders of boats; and potentially
endangering crews and passengers.
Lost fishing gear also causes economic damage. A recent
peer-reviewed study (Gilardi et al., 2010) found that a single
derelict gill net could be responsible for entangling and
killing 4,368 crab, resulting in a loss to the Dungeness crab
fishery of $19,656. The benefit-cost ratio of removing such a
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derelict net was a high 14.5:1 ($14.50 saved for every $1
spent).
One of the biggest hurdles in the recovery of derelict gear,
according to the author, is a lack of knowledge about what to do
with recovered gear. This is because regulations are written by
DFG for individual fisheries and are unclear as to whether a
fisher is legally allowed to have derelict gear from either his
or her own fishery or another fishery on board while fishing.
This lack of clarity could mean that all derelict gear collected
while fishing must be thrown back overboard to remain in
compliance with the issued fishing license. By printing a
telephone number and website for regional gear recovery
organizations on fishing licenses and brochures, information
could be made accessible to fishers encountering derelict gear
while at sea.
In 2007, the OPC adopted a resolution on reducing and preventing
marine debris, which established a Marine Debris Steering
Committee (committee) consisting of the California Integrated
Waste Management Board, Department of Conservation, Department
of Toxic Substances Control, California Coastal Commission, and
the State Water Resources Control Board. The resolution directed
this committee to propose a plan by December 1, 2007 for
achieving target reductions of derelict fishing gear by 2015.
The OPC released a draft Ocean Litter Implementation Strategy,
however this draft does not include any targets for derelict
fishing gear reductions.
DFG questions the need for this bill, asserting that the
telephone number for reporting the lost fishing gear can be
found on the DFG marine region webpage as can the link to the
SeaDoc Society Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project. However, it
is doubtful that the information listed on a website is truly
accessible to fishers when they are out on the ocean where they
are likely to actually encounter lost fishing gear.
Analysis Prepared by : Igor Lacan / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096
FN: 0006180