BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 21|
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VETO
Bill No: SB 21
Author: Simitian (D)
Amended: 8/18/10
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 8-2, 3/24/09
AYES: Pavley, Benoit, Kehoe, Leno, Padilla, Simitian,
Wiggins, Wolk
NOES: Hollingsworth, Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cogdill
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-3, 1/21/10
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Leno, Liu, Price, Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Walters
SENATE FLOOR : 23-10, 1/28/10
AYES: Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa, DeSaulnier,
Florez, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Maldonado,
Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, Padilla, Pavley, Romero,
Simitian, Steinberg, Wiggins, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Cogdill, Cox, Denham, Dutton,
Harman, Hollingsworth, Strickland, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alquist, Ducheny, Huff, Price, Runner,
Walters, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-25, 8/23/10 - See last page for vote
SENATE FLOOR : 22-11, 8/25/10
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa,
DeSaulnier, Florez, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal,
Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Romero, Simitian,
Steinberg, Wolk, Wright, Yee
CONTINUED
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NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Blakeslee, Cogdill, Dutton,
Emmerson, Huff, Runner, Strickland, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Denham, Ducheny, Harman, Hollingsworth,
Oropeza, Wiggins, Vacancy
SUBJECT : Fishing gear
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill directs the Department of Fish and
Game (DFG) to publicize telephone numbers and Web addresses
to which derelict fishing gear can be reported.
Assembly Amendments clarified reporting availability,
authorized the council to develop ways for fishermen to
keep fishing gear, and clarified definitions.
ANALYSIS : 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.
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 Ocean Protection Council (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.
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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 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.
Background
California Lost Fishing Gear Recovery Project . In July
2005, the SeaDoc Society at the University of California,
Davis Wildlife Health Center launched the California Lost
Fishing Gear Recovery Project. With a grant from the OPC
and additional funding from private and federal sources,
this project has removed gear from selected marine
locations including the Channel Island and other areas
around California and other Pacific states. This project
also established fishing line recycling bins on public
fishing piers, and encouraged ocean users to report the
presence of lost gear. According to an OPC resolution,
approximately 10 tons of gear from the Channel Islands had
been removed by the project between May 2006 and February
2007. This project is on-going, pending available funding.
OPC Resolution on Reducing and Preventing Marine Debris .
On February 8, 2007, the OPC adopted a resolution on
reducing and preventing marine debris. This resolution
made a number of findings regarding the negative impact
that marine debris has on the ocean ecosystem. In
response, the OPC identified thirteen top priority
solutions. One of these solutions was for the OPC to
coordinate and chair a Marine Debris Steering Committee
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consisting of the California Integrated Waste Management
Board, Department of Conservation, Department of Toxic
Substances Control, 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 by 2015.
The OPC released a draft Ocean Litter Implementation
Strategy, however this draft does not include any targets
for derelict fishing gear reductions.
Prior Legislation
Last year, DFG opposed a similar version of this bill, SB
899 (Simitian) that was ultimately vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Assembly Floor Analysis, 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.)
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/23/10)
Heal the Bay
Environment California
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/23/10)
Department of Fish and Game
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to background submitted
by the author, fishing nets are usually made from synthetic
fibers that take a long time to degrade and in fact, may
never degrade. For example, commercial netting can take
30-40 years to decompose and monofilament fishing line can
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take up to 600 years to decompose. The impacts of derelict
fishing gear include: the entanglement of divers and
swimmers, entangle and damage marine vessels, trap and kill
marine life, and threaten sensitive marine habitats and
ecosystems.
Private and educational organizations have documented and
photographed the damage to the marine environment and
wildlife caused by derelict fishing gear. See, for
example, this site, http://www.seadocsociety.
org/lostfishinggear, developed by the SeaDoc Society
affiliated with the Wildlife Health Center at the UC Davis
School of Veterinary Medicine.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : DFG states in opposition that,
"DFG already has a link on our website to SeaDoc Society
where lost-and-found gear can be reported, via internet, or
toll-free telephone number. Additionally, DFG committed to
providing this information in our sport fishing regulations
and our Commercial Fishing Digest, as we did in 2009. The
information will appear in future publications, as well.
"In this fiscal climate, DFG must be vigilant in opposing
unfunded mandates however minor they seem. Creating
expectations that DFG will do more to address derelict
fishing in the absence of dedicated resources for this
purpose is unfair to DFG and our stakeholders."
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
"I am returning Senate Bill 21 without my signature.
This bill requires the Department of Fish and Game
(Department) and the Ocean Protection Council
(Council) to undertake several activities with
respect to the reporting of derelict fishing gear.
This bill is unnecessary. The Department currently
maintains a "Report Lost Fishing Gear" link on its
website, where lost and found gear can be reported
via the internet or toll-free telephone numbers.
Additionally, last year the Department began
providing this information in its sport fishing
regulations, in the Commercial Fishing Digest and
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began printing it on commercial fishing licenses.
For these reasons, I am unable to sign this bill."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De
Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Galgiani, Gatto, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber,
Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Monning, Nava, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson,
Torres, Torrico, Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Conway, DeVore, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman,
Harkey, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, Norby, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland,
Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cook, Furutani, Vacancy, Vacancy
CTW:nl 10/5/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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