SACRAMENTO – An omnibus bill by Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D-North Coast) to address a number of fisheries issues enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support this week as it was approved 12-1 by the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.

 “AB 2363 is a result of the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture addressing the needs of the fishing community in multiple ways,” said Chesbro, who chairs the Fisheries and Aquaculture Committee. “We affectionately call it the ‘bouillabaisse bill’ because it addresses a variety of needs relating to fisheries. Every single item in this bill is something that was suggested and discussed at the 39th Annual Fisheries Forum held in February. We have heard the fishing community and we are doing something about it.”

Provisions of AB 2363 still include:

• Allows any licensed fisherman to retrieve lost or abandoned crab traps at the end of the crab season, not just the owner of trap. This will result in less derelict fishing gear in the water to ensnare wildlife or to interfere with other fishing operations.
• For commercial crabbers, a key provision tightens up emergency permit transfers to prevent large out-of-state vessels from abusing this provision of California’s Dungeness crab limited entry program.
• Permits the transfer of commercial permits to the family of a permit holder who has died, regardless of the cause of death. Currently, permits are only transferrable to the family if the permit holder dies accidentally. This is intended to eliminate further hardships on an estate trying to sell a vessel, and transfer the permits on that vessel, removing added burden of negotiating with the Department of Fish and Game over the cause of death.

“This is an important bill to the fishing community,” said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, who spoke in support of AB 2363 at the Committee hearing. “If it passes, it will give us the ability to conduct clean-ups after the season to protect fish and wildlife. It is also fairer to a surviving family if a permit holder dies. It simply makes no sense the way it is now.”

AB 2363 next goes to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for consideration.