BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           1093 (Wiggins)
          
          Hearing Date:  05/10/2010           Amended: 04/19/2010
          Consultant:  Brendan McCarthy   Policy Vote: NR&W 5-3














































          SB 1093 (Wiggins), Page 2


          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY: SB 1093 extends the sunset of an existing  
          Dungeness crab task force to 2014.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2010-11      2011-12       2012-13     Fund
           
          OPC support for task force        Up to $50 per year    Special  
          *

          DFG support for task force        Up to $60 per year    Special  
          **                     

          * Environmental License Plate Fund.
          ** Fish and Game Preservation Fund.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: 
          
          Current law (SB 1690, Wiggins, Chapter 727, Statutes of 2008)  
          establishes a Dungeness crab task force. Membership of the task  
          force includes representatives of various commercial and  
          recreational fishing interests, representatives of specified  
          coastal communities, and other members. The task force is  
          charged with reviewing current crab management measures and  
          reporting to the Legislature with recommendations on potential  
          changes. In addition, the task force was directed to recommend  
          whether the task force should be made permanent. Current law  
          sunsets the task force in 2011. The task force report was  
          submitted to the Legislature in January 2010 and a second report  
          was delivered in March 2010. The report included a  
          recommendation to extend the life of the task force. 

          In addition, the code section that establishes the task force  
          (Public Resources Code, Section 8276.4) authorizes the  
          Department of Fish and Game to restrict the commercial take of  
          Dungeness crab in state waters if certain conditions are met  
          (generally that the permittee has taken less than 5,000 pounds  
          of crab over the last five years). To date, the Department has  
          not made use of this authority.

          This bill extends the sunset of the task force (and the related  
          authority to limit Dungeness crab take) until 2014.






          SB 1093 (Wiggins), Page 2


          To date, both the Ocean Protection Council and the Department of  
          Fish and Game have incurred costs to support the task force's  
          activities, including assigning staff to support the task force  
          and paying for meeting space and other expenses of the task  
          force. Staff estimates that both the Department and the Council  
          would incur some minor, additional costs to continue to provide  
          staff support to the task force under the bill.