SB 1128

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law prohibits a person from using or operating, or assisting in using or operating, a boat, aircraft, net, trap, line, or other appliance to take fish for commercial purposes unless the person holds a commercial fishing license issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Existing law generally requires any person who engages in any business for profit involving fish to have a commercial fish business license issued by the department, and requires specialty licenses for specified classes of fish business. Existing law requires all fish taken or otherwise dealt with under the law to be exhibited upon demand to any person authorized by the department to enforce any law relating to the protection and conservation of fish. A violation of the Fish and Game Code or a regulation adopted pursuant to the code is a crime. This bill would require a person who holds a commercial fishing license or a commercial fish business license, upon request of an authorized agent or employee of the department, to immediately relinquish, at no charge, a fish or parts of a fish caught or landed in California to the department for the purpose of collecting a biological sample. Because a violation of this provision would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law authorizes crab traps to be set and baited 64 hours prior to the opening date of the Dungeness crab season in Fish and Game Districts 6, 7, 8, and 9. Existing law also authorizes crab traps to be set and baited in advance of that opening date in those districts if no other attempt is made to take or possess Dungeness crab in those districts. Existing law also provides, except in Fish and Game Districts 6, 7, 8, and 9, that crab traps may be set and baited 18 hours in advance of the opening date of the Dungeness crab season, if no other attempt is made to take or possess Dungeness crab. This bill would instead authorize crab traps to be set and baited 64 hours before the opening date of the Dungeness crab season regardless of the Fish and Game District. The bill would also make conforming changes. (3) Existing state law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, makes it unlawful to manufacture, sell, deliver, hold, or offer for sale adulterated food. Existing law prescribes when a food is adulterated, including if it bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance that may render it injurious to the health of a person or other animal that may consume it. Existing law makes a violation of the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law or a regulation adopted pursuant to that law a misdemeanor. Existing law authorizes the Director of Fish and Wildlife to order the closure of any waters or otherwise restrict the taking in state waters of any species of fish if the Director of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, in consultation with the State Public Health Officer, determines that the species or subspecies of fish is likely to pose a human health risk from high levels of toxic substances. Existing law provides for the Director of Fish and Wildlife, upon receiving notification from the Director of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment that a human health risk no longer exists and a request to reopen those waters, to reopen those waters in a manner that promotes a fair and orderly fishery. A violation of the Fish and Game Code or a regulation adopted pursuant to the code is a crime. This bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to adopt regulations to authorize the manufacture, sale, delivery, holding, or offering for sale of eviscerated Dungeness crab that is caught in waters where the department determined that the viscera of Dungeness crab exceeds allowable levels of domoic acid for Dungeness crab adopted by the department if the meat of Dungeness crab does not exceed allowable levels of domoic acid for Dungeness crab adopted by the department. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to adopt these regulations consistent with specified requirements. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to order the evisceration, as defined, of Dungeness crab if the domoic acid for Dungeness crab exceeds the allowable levels in certain areas when specified criteria exist. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to only authorize the evisceration of Dungeness crab by a licensed processor, as defined, that also has a specified plan approved by the State Department of Public Health for handling and preparing eviscerated crab, and would also require the State Department of Public Health to establish labeling requirements for eviscerated crab, as specified, and to require the processor to maintain written recall procedures. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to consult with a certain Dungeness crab task force or a replacement task force or committee to establish the criteria for the manufacture, sale, delivery, holding, or offering for sale of Dungeness crab caught in areas subject to an evisceration order by the State Department of Public Health. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to publish notice of the proposed criteria, as specified, and make the criteria effective by operation of law as regulations 90 days after the notice is published. The bill would require the Department of Fish and Wildlife to adopt regulations that govern the commercial take of Dungeness crab during a time period when the State Department of Public Health authorizes the manufacture, sale, delivery, holding, or offering for sale of eviscerated Dungeness crab pursuant to the above-described provisions. The bill would require these regulations to require the holder of a Dungeness crab vessel permit to submit to electronic monitoring of the vessel while engaged in the take of Dungeness crab, as specified. The bill would authorize a person who takes Dungeness crab to sell or provide the Dungeness crab only to a processor approved by the State Department of Public Health, as specified. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (5) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.