BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2363
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Jared Huffman, Chair
AB 2363 (Chesbro) - As Amended: April 17, 2012
SUBJECT : Fishing Vessel Permits; Bottom Trawling
SUMMARY : Modifies conditions under which limited entry
commercial fishery and Dungeness Crab vessel permits can be
transferred, and modifies the Fish and Game Commission's
authority to approve bottom trawling in state waters.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a limited entry fishery permit to be transferred,
upon application, to a parent, spouse, child, sibling,
domestic partner, or the estate of a permit holder whose death
occurred after January 1, 2010. Requires that the application
for the transfer be submitted on or before January 1, 2011 or
not more than one year after the death of the permittee,
whichever is later.
2)Authorizes the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) director to
authorize another person, when requested by the new permittee,
to serve in the place of the new permittee and to fish under
the limited entry permit for not more than one year from the
date of the permit transfer.
3)Narrows the conditions under which Dungeness Crab vessel
permits may be temporarily transferred by requiring that the
permit holder who is seeking to transfer the permit must have
had Dungeness crab landings of not less than 5,000 pounds
cumulative over the past two years, and requiring that the
vessel to which the permit is to be temporarily transferred be
of equivalent size and capacity, and no greater than 10 feet
in length.
4)Requires as a condition of a permanent transfer of a Dungeness
Crab vessel permit in the event of a loss or destruction or
serious damage rendering a vessel inoperable, that the
replacement vessel be of an equivalent size and capacity.
5)Authorizes the FGC to authorize bottom trawl fishing in
additional waters of the state if it determines based on best
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available scientific information, that bottom trawling in the
area is sustainable, does not harm bottom habitat, and does
not unreasonably conflict with other users. (The author is
proposing to delete this provision as a committee amendment
when this bill is heard in committee.)
6)Authorizes any person with a commercial fishing license to
retrieve and bring to shore Dungeness Crab traps that are lost
or abandoned, or are present in ocean waters in Districts 6,
7, 8, 9 or 10, more than 96 hours after the closure of the
season in that district and before 96 hours prior to the
opening of the next season. Provides that this authority
shall not apply to recreational crab traps. Requires DFG to
establish regulations as necessary to implement and enforce
this provision, including notification to owners of the traps,
any retrieval fee, and sale or auction of retrieved traps.
Includes a sunset clause providing that this provision shall
become inoperative on April 1, 2019.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes transfer of limited entry commercial fishery
permits only upon the accidental death of the permit holder,
and limits those to whom the permits may be transferred to a
parent, spouse, child or sibling. Authorizes the DFG director
to authorize another person when requested by the new
permittee to engage in fishing under the limited entry permit
for not more than 2 years.
2)Authorizes, upon DFG approval, the owner of a permitted
Dungeness Crab vessel to temporarily transfer the permit to
another replacement vessel for a period of six months during
the permit year, if the permitted vessel is lost, destroyed,
or seriously damaged or suffers a mechanical breakdown. An
additional six month extension may be granted. Authorizes the
permanent transfer of a Dungeness Crab vessel permit within 2
years after a permitted vessel is lost or destroyed or become
inoperable.
3)Makes it unlawful to engage in bottom trawling in waters of
the state, except as allowed under specific provisions of law
relating to shrimp and halibut trawling and establishing the
boundaries where trawling is allowed for these fisheries.
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However, also authorizes FGC to authorize additional fishing
areas for bottom trawls if it determines, based on best
available scientific information, that bottom trawling in
those areas is sustainable, does not harm bottom habitat, and
does not unreasonably conflict with other users.
4)Prohibits the use of trawl nets in state waters within 3
nautical miles from the mainland, in specified marine
districts, including but not limited to portions of Monterey
Bay, Estero Bay, and San Luis Obispo Bay.
5)Makes it unlawful to willfully or recklessly disturb, move, or
damage any trap that belongs to another person.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The author indicates this bill is intended to do all
of the following:
To allow for commercial fishery vessel permits to be
transferred in the event of the death of the permit holder,
regardless of whether the death is an accidental or natural
death, and to allow the permit to be transferred to a domestic
partner or to the deceased's estate.
To tighten up the existing requirements for emergency transfer
of Dungeness Crab vessel permits to ensure that this emergency
authority is not misused to transfer permits to larger vessels
capable of landing greater amounts of crab than the vessel to
which the permit was issued.
To clarify the FGC's authority under specified conditions to
authorize trawling using "light touch" trawl gear in waters
where trawling is not currently allowed
To allow for retrieval of Dungeness Crab traps after the end
of the season by persons who do not own the traps, under
regulations to be adopted by DFG.
The restriction under current law on transfer of limited entry
permits only to an accidental death has created hardships for
families or beneficiaries of deceased permit holders when the
person dies of natural causes other than an accident. There
does not seem to be a logical reason for limiting such transfers
to accidental deaths. In addition, the current law allows
transfers to a spouse, parent, child or sibling, but not to a
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domestic partner or the decedent's estate. This bill addresses
those issues by allowing for such transfers.
According to the author, the restriction on emergency transfers
of Dungeness Crab vessel permits to vessels of comparable size
is proposed in response to alleged abuses which occurred last
year when permits from some tsunami-damaged vessels in Crescent
City with little or no recent crab landings were transferred to
large out-of-state crab boats allowing them to participate in
the California crab fishery.
Proposed Author's Amendments to be adopted in committee remove
Section 3 of this bill relating to bottom trawling : The author
proposes to delete Section 3 of this bill relating to bottom
trawling. The clarification on the FGC's authority to allow
bottom trawling was intended by the author to enable the FGC to
approve use of "light touch" trawl gear where it determines such
use is sustainable and will not harm bottom habitat or conflict
with other users. The FGC's current authority to expand the
areas of state ocean waters where bottom trawling is lawful
lacks clarity, due to potentially conflicting subsections of the
code. One subsection makes it unlawful to engage in bottom
trawling in any ocean waters of the state except where allowed
for shrimp and halibut under two specified sections of the
existing law. However, another subsection states that the FGC
may authorize additional fishing areas for bottom trawls after
it determines, based on best available scientific information,
that bottom trawling in those areas is sustainable, does not
harm bottom habitat, and does not unreasonably conflict with
other users. The FGC has interpreted the existing law to allow
the FGC to authorize additional fishing areas for bottom trawls
only within the geographic boundary of the Halibut Trawl
Grounds, as prescribed in Fish and Game Code Section 8495. This
bill would provide that, notwithstanding the section making
bottom trawling unlawful in additional ocean waters of the
state, the FGC may authorize bottom trawling in other waters of
the state if it finds that it would meet the above described
conditions. In response to concerns raised about the effect of
this section, the author has agreed to delete this provision
from this bill.
Finally, the provision on retrieval of lost or abandoned crab
traps would enable removal of traps after the season closes to
prevent marine debris and entanglement with other fishing
equipment.
AB 2363
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Support Arguments : The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's
Associations supports this bill because it would relieve
hardships on families of deceased fishing men and women, protect
against abuse in the emergency transfer of Dungeness Crab vessel
permits, and facilitate retrieval of lost or abandoned Dungeness
Crab fishing gear. Oceana supports this bill if amended to
delete the trawling provision, an amendment the author has
agreed to accept.
Suggested Amendments :
1)Delete page 7 and lines 1-32 on page 8.
2)This bill would require that an application for transfer of a
permit upon the death of a permit holder must be submitted on
or before January 1, 2011, or not more than one year after the
death of the permittee, whichever is later. If a permittee
died during 2010 or 2011, since this bill would not take
effect until January 1, 2013, it would be too late to file the
application, since it would already be more than one year
after the death of the permittee. The committee and author
may therefore wish to consider an amendment changing the
deadline for the application to July 1, 2013 or January 1,
2014, rather than January 1, 2011.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
Oceana (if amended)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Diane Colborn / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096