BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 1093
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 4, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                   SB 1093 (Wiggins) - As Amended:  August 2, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              Water, Parks and  
          Wildlife     Vote:                            9-4

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill extends the sunset on the Dungeness crab task force  
          and allows a pilot program for crab trap limits.  Specifically,  
          this bill:

          1)Extends until January 1, 2014, the sunset on the Dungeness  
            crab task force.

          2)Authorizes the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to institute  
            a pilot program of seven tiers of Dungeness crab trap limits  
            based on recent catch amounts.  

          3)Requires DFG to either obtain new funding from the Ocean  
            Protection Council (OPC) or other sources to cover the costs  
            of the pilot program or to collect a fee for each trap tag  
            issued that covers the pro-rata share of the costs of the  
            pilot program.

          4)Prohibits DFG from expending more time or funds on the  
            enforcement of the pilot program than is normally accorded to  
            the crab fishery, unless new funding is made available  
            specifically for enforcement of the pilot program.

          5)Establishes the Dungeness Crab Account in the Fish and Game  
            Preservation Fund (FGPF) and requires that any fees collected  
            to implement the pilot program shall be deposited in that  
            account, to be continuously appropriated for administration of  
            the pilot program.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  









                                                                  SB 1093
                                                                  Page  2

          1)Annual costs through 2013-14 to DFG of approximately $50,000  
            to provide administrative support to the continued operation  
            of the task force. (Fish and Game Preservation Fund (FGPF))

          2)Annual costs through 2013-14 to the Ocean Protection Council  
            of as much as $50,000 to provide administrative support to the  
            task force. (Environmental License Plate Fund)

          3)Potential annual costs through 2013-14 to DFG, possibly  
            exceeding $150,000, to develop regulations, procure crab trap  
            tags, and publicize pilot program requirement to crab  
            fishermen, should DFG implement the pilot program. (FGPF)

          4)Annual revenue to through 2013-14 to DFG-from trap tag fee,  
            OPC, or other source-roughly equivalent to DFG's costs to  
            implement the pilot program.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  .  The author acknowledges the Dungenous crab task  
            force has made considerable progress, but concludes more work  
            remains to be done to ensure the viability of this important  
            fishery and therefore proposes to extend the sunset date on  
            the task force for three more years.  The author also seeks to  
            implement certain recommendations made by the task force.

           2)Background  .  SB 1690 (Wiggins), Chapter 727, Statutes of 2008,  
            directed OPC to establish and facilitate a Dungeness crab task  
            force to make recommendations to the Legislature on Dungeness  
            crab management.  The task force was created, met several  
            times during 2009, and submitted two reports with  
            recommendations to the Legislature, which included 19  
            different recommendations.  This bill implements two of the  
            recommendations of the taskforce-to implement a 2-year pilot  
            program with tiered pot limits, based on the level of landings  
            over a 5 year period and continue the advisory taskforce in  
            place for three more years.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081