BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 539|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
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|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 539
Author: Wiggins (D)
Amended: 5/5/09
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 7-4, 4/28/09
AYES: Pavley, Kehoe, Leno, Padilla, Simitian, Wiggins,
Wolk
NOES: Cogdill, Benoit, Hollingsworth, Huff
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-5, 5/28/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza,
Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Runner, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk
SUBJECT : Salmon and steelhead trout: California Ocean
Protection
Trust Fund
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill expands the eligible uses of the Ocean
Protection Trust Fund to include grants and loans to public
agencies or private entities that would assist in the
restoration of the native population of salmon and
steelhead trout and the restoration of the state's salmon
fishery.
ANALYSIS : The California Ocean Protection Council (OPC)
CONTINUED
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was established by the Ocean Protection Act (Act) that was
passed in 2004. The OPC is directed to coordinate the
activities of the many state entities that are involved in
ocean-related activities and conservation efforts. It
consists of the Secretary of the Resources Agency, the
Secretary of the California Environmental Protection
Agency, the chair of the State Lands Commission, and two
public members appointed by the Governor. A legislator
from each house serves as an ex officio member.
The central roles of the OPC are to establish ocean policy,
coordinate the activities of various state agencies that
implement policies that affect the ocean, and approving
grants of bond funds for scientific research.
The Act also established the Ocean Protection Trust Fund.
The eligible uses of the trust fund include, but are not
limited to, expenditures that would result in water quality
improvements, habitat protection, the promotion of
sustainable fisheries, and other activities consistent with
the Ocean Protection Act.
The Council was formed as a reaction to the Pew Ocean
Commission report and other national reports that called
for a coordinated state effort to address ocean and coastal
resource needs.
Since its inceptions, the Act directed the OPC to "foster
sustainable fisheries, [promote] value-added wild fisheries
to offset economic losses attributable to reduced fishing
opportunities, and [create] revolving loan programs for the
purpose of implementing sustainable fishery projects."
This bill expands the eligible uses of the Ocean Protection
Trust Fund to include grants and loans to public agencies
or private entities that would assist in the restoration of
the native population of salmon and steelhead trout and the
restoration of the state's salmon fishery.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
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Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
Reduced funding for Up to $4,000 over several
years Bonds*
other eligible uses
*Proposition 84.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/28/09)
Forests Forever
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Association
Sierra Club California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
while the OPC has engaged in fisheries management issues,
it has not yet focused much attention on the collapse of
California's salmon which is not only a commercial disaster
but indicative of a water-related environmental disaster as
well.
A recent report by CalTrout authored in part by Dr. Peter
Moyle from UC Davis said that the state's native salmonids
are in unprecedented decline and are teetering towards the
brink of extinction - an alarm bell that signals the
deteriorating health of the state's rivers and streams that
provide drinking water to millions of Californians.
The report concluded that:
1.If present tends continue, 65 percent of native salmon,
steelhead, and trout species will be extinct within 100
years.
2.Sixty-five percent of the species headed towards
extinction are found only in California.
3.Of the state's 22 anadromous fish species (which spawn in
freshwater and live most of their adult lives in the
ocean), 59 percent are in danger of extinction.
All of the species studies in the report support, or have
previously supported, major recreational and commercial
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fisheries and provide enormous economic and cultural value
to Californians. And as shown in a report released in
January 2008 by CalTrout, direct spending by anglers in the
state on fishing-related items and activities comes to over
$2 billion each year.
CTW:cm 5/29/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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