BILL NUMBER: SB 1093 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 19, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wiggins
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
An act to amend Section 8276.4 of the Fish and Game Code, relating
to fish and game.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1093, as amended, Wiggins. Ocean Protection Council: Dungeness
crab task force.
Existing law establishes the Ocean Protection Council and requires
the council to, among other things, coordinate activities of state
agencies that are related to the protection and conservation of
coastal waters and ocean ecosystems to improve the effectiveness of
state efforts to protect ocean resources within existing fiscal
limitations.
Existing law requires the council to make a grant, upon
appropriation of funding by the Legislature, for the development and
administration of a Dungeness crab task force, and specifies the
membership of the task force. Existing law requires the task force to
cease to exist on January 1, 2011.
This bill would extend that date to January 1, 2015
2014 .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 8276.4 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to
read:
8276.4. (a) The Ocean Protection Council shall make a grant, upon
appropriation of funding by the Legislature, for the development and
administration of a Dungeness crab task force. The membership of the
Dungeness crab task force shall be comprised of all of the
following:
(1) Two members representing sport fishing interests.
(2) Two members representing crab processing interests.
(3) One member representing commercial passenger fishing vessel
interests.
(4) Two ex officio members representing nongovernmental
organization interests.
(5) One ex officio representative of Sea Grant.
(6) Two ex officio members representing the department.
(7) Seventeen members representing commercial fishery interests,
elected by licensed persons possessing valid Dungeness crab permits
in their respective ports and production levels, as follows:
(A) Four members from Crescent City.
(B) One member from Trinidad.
(C) Two members from Eureka.
(D) Two members from Fort Bragg.
(E) Two members from Bodega Bay.
(F) Two members from San Francisco.
(G) Two members from Half Moon Bay.
(H) One member from ports south of Half Moon Bay.
(I) One member who has a valid California nonresident crab permit.
(b) For ports with more than one representative, elected members
and their alternates shall represent both the upper and lower, and in
some cases middle, production levels. Production levels shall be
based on the average landing during the previous five years, of valid
crab permitholders who landed a minimum of 25,000 pounds of crab
during the same period.
(c) The Dungeness crab task force shall do all of the following:
(1) Under the guidance of a professional facilitator hired by the
Ocean Protection Council for this purpose, review and evaluate
Dungeness crab management measures with the objective of making
recommendations to the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture,
the department, and the commission no later than January 15, 2010.
(2) Make recommendations, including, but not limited to, the need
for a permanent Dungeness crab advisory committee, refining sport and
commercial Dungeness crab management, establishing a Dungeness crab
marketing commission, and the need for statutory changes to
accomplish task force objectives.
(3) In considering Dungeness crab management options, prioritize
the review of pot limit restriction options, harvest allocation,
current and future sport and commercial fishery effort, season
modifications, essential fishery information needs, and short- and
long-term objectives for improved management.
(d) The task force may establish subcommittees of specific user
groups from the task force membership to focus on issues specific to
sport fishing, commercial harvest, or crab processing. The
subcommittees shall report their recommendations, if any, to the task
force.
(e) The Ocean Protection Council may include in a grant funding to
cover department staffing costs, as well as task force participant
travel.
(f) A recommendation shall be forwarded to the Joint Committee on
Fisheries and Aquaculture, the department, and the commission upon an
affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the task force members.
(g) The task force shall cease to exist on January 1,
2015 2014 .
(h) Eligibility to take crab in state waters and offshore for
commercial purposes may be subject to restrictions, including, but
not limited to, restrictions on the number of traps utilized by that
person, if either of the following occurs:
(1) A person holds a Dungeness crab permit with landings of less
than 5,000 pounds between November 15, 2003, and July 15, 2008,
inclusive.
(2) A person has purchased a Dungeness crab permit on or after
July 15, 2008, from a permitholder who landed less than 5,000 pounds
between November 15, 2003, and July 15, 2008, inclusive.
(i) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2015 2014 , and as of that date is
repealed unless a later enacted statute, which is enacted before
January 1, 2015 2014 , deletes or
extends that date, or it is rendered inoperative by commission
regulations.