Bill Text: CA AB408 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commercial fishing: lobster management enhancement.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2010-09-30 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB408 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB408-Enrolled.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 408 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 30, 2010
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 31, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 20, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 2, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 29, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 5, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Saldana
FEBRUARY 23, 2009
An act to add and repeal Section 8254.5 of, and to add and repeal
Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 8260) of Chapter 2 of Part 3 of
Division 6 of, the Fish and Game Code, relating to commercial
fishing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 408, Saldana. Commercial fishing: lobster management
enhancement.
Existing law prohibits the taking of lobsters for commercial
purposes except under a valid lobster permit issued by the Department
of Fish and Game. The base permit fee for a lobster permit is $265.
This bill, commencing April 1, 2011, and until March 31, 2016,
would impose, in addition to the permit fee, a supplemental fee of
$300, to be known as the Lobster Management Enhancement Supplement.
The bill would require the department to deposit supplement revenues
in the Lobster Management Enhancement Account, which the bill would
create in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. The bill would require
that money in the account be expended by the department, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, exclusively to fund specified
projects and programs to improve lobster sustainability and
management. The bill would create a 5-member Lobster Management
Enhancement Advisory Committee that would be required to meet only
once during any calendar year to recommend to the department projects
and programs and budgets for the expenditure of account moneys,
including a plan to prioritize expenditures. Those lobster management
enhancement provisions would be repealed on January 1, 2017.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) California's spiny lobster fishery is an important component
of California's marine ecosystem, as well as an important source of
jobs for California fishermen and fisherwomen and food for consumers.
(b) California's commercial and recreational lobster fishermen and
fisherwomen, primarily through associations, should participate in
the development and implementation of new approaches to managing
lobster fishing. Those approaches should be designed to ensure
economical and sustainable fishing.
(c) California's lobster fishing associations will greatly benefit
from an established mechanism that will provide a steady source of
funds for projects that promote the long-term sustainability and
improved management of the California spiny lobster fishery.
(d) Improving the sustainability of the spiny lobster fishery
through mechanisms such as development of a fishery management plan
requires far greater funding resources than the revenue generated by
this bill. Revenue generated by this bill constitutes the permittees'
contribution to the improvement of the spiny lobster fishery, which
must then be augmented by additional funding resources to improve
management of the fishery.
SEC. 2. Section 8254.5 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to
read:
8254.5. (a) In addition to the fee imposed pursuant to
subdivision (c) of Section 8254, commencing April 1, 2011, a person
described in subdivision (b) of Section 8254 shall also pay a
supplemental fee of three hundred dollars ($300). The supplemental
fee shall be known as the Lobster Management Enhancement Supplement.
The department shall deposit Lobster Management Enhancement
Supplement revenues in the Lobster Management Enhancement Account in
the Fish and Game Preservation Fund pursuant to Section 8262.
(b) Section 713 does not apply to the Lobster Management
Enhancement Supplement.
(c) This section shall become inoperative on March 31, 2016, and,
as of January 1, 2017, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2017, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 3. Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 8260) is added to
Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 6 of the Fish and Game Code, to read:
Article 5.5. Lobster Management Enhancement Supplement
8260. As used in this article:
(a) "Account" means the Lobster Management Enhancement Account
established in Section 8262.
(b) "Committee" means the Lobster Management Enhancement Advisory
Committee established pursuant to Section 8263.
8262. (a) Lobster Management Enhancement Supplement revenues
received by the department pursuant to Section 8254.5, and any
interest earned on those revenues, shall be deposited in the Lobster
Management Enhancement Account, which is hereby established in the
Fish and Game Preservation Fund. The money in the account, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, shall be expended by the department
exclusively for projects and programs to improve lobster
sustainability and management consistent with subdivision (b). The
department shall maintain the internal accountability necessary to
ensure that expenditure of funds from the account is consistent with
the requirements and purposes of this article. The department shall
annually provide to the committee a full accounting of expenditures
from the account and make that information available to the public.
(b) The committee shall develop a plan that prioritizes
expenditures on projects and programs that support long-term
sustainability or improved management, or both, of the California
spiny lobster fishery, consistent with Section 35650 of the Public
Resources Code.
(c) The director shall not fund any project or program pursuant to
this article that the director determines to be inconsistent with
the priorities identified pursuant to subdivision (b) and with this
article.
(d) Nothing in this article, nor any decision of the committee,
shall be construed to create an obligation on the part of the
department to engage in a particular scientific, policy, or planning
effort.
(e) Department administrative overhead, collection, or other
charges shall not exceed 24 percent of the amount collected annually
in the account.
(f) In order to reduce department costs, the committee shall be
required to meet only once during any calendar year. The department
may call additional committee meetings as it determines to be
necessary.
8263. (a) The Lobster Management Enhancement Advisory Committee
is hereby created, consisting of five members, as follows:
(1) One member, with an alternate, who is representative of the
state's commercial lobster fishermen and fisherwomen or who is a
biological scientist actively involved in lobster research and who is
affiliated with a college or university within the state. A member
appointed pursuant to this paragraph and his or her alternate shall
be appointed by the director from licensed lobster permittees and
scientists who have submitted their names for consideration.
(2) Three members, each with an alternate, appointed by the
director from a list of at least four persons submitted by the
membership of the California Lobster and Trap Fishermen's
Association. This subdivision does not prohibit persons selected
pursuant to paragraph (1) from also being a member of the California
Lobster and Trap Fishermen's Association.
(3) The director, or his or her designee.
(b) Except for a biological scientist member appointed pursuant to
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), the committee members described in
paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a) and their alternates shall
hold a valid lobster permit.
(c) A vote by the committee is not valid unless all five members
or their alternates are present to vote.
(d) The committee shall recommend to the department projects and
programs consistent with subdivision (b) of Section 8262 and budgets
for the expenditure of moneys received pursuant to this article.
8264. The department may receive funds for deposit in the
account, for purposes of this article, from sources other than the
sale of commercial fishing lobster permits, including, but not
limited to, grants from the federal government, grants from private
foundations, money disbursed from court settlements, and donations
and bequests from individuals. Additional funds received pursuant to
this section shall not be deposited in the account unless the person
or entity providing the funds specifically designates in writing,
prior to or at the time of transmittal of the funds to the
department, that the funds are intended solely for deposit to that
account.
8265. This article shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2017, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends
that date.
