SACRAMENTO – Speaker of the Assembly Karen Bass has appointed First District Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D-Arcata) to two fisheries committees important to the First Assembly District.

Chesbro, whose district includes five Pacific shoreline counties from Bodega Bay to the Oregon border, returns to seats on the California Legislature’s Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture and on the Pacific Fisheries Legislative Task Force. He served on both as a member of the California State Senate (1998-2006).

“This is a continuation of my advocacy for California fisheries while I was in the Senate,” Chesbro said. “I asked the speaker to appoint me to the joint committee and the legislative task force because reviving our distressed fisheries is crucial to the North Coast. Fisheries have a huge impact on the economies of our coastal communities. A healthy environment creates healthy economies in fishing communities.”

The First Assembly District contains four important California fishing ports: Crescent City, Eureka, Fort Bragg and Bodega Bay.

“Our salmon fishery is in crisis, Chesbro said. “The causes of the declines extend beyond California. Fish don’t respect state or national boundaries. It’s critical that legislators from Western states work together to save and rebuild our fisheries.”

The California Legislature’s Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture has eight members, four from each house. Its purpose is to give the fishing industry a voice in Sacramento. The committee is informational, and holds hearings on issues of specific concern to fisheries, the fishing industry, environmental interests and consumers.

The Joint Committee holds an annual forum at Capitol that brings together members of the fishing fleet, policy experts, state regulators and community members to engage with legislators on urgent issues surrounding the critical nexus between stable fisheries and the economies that depend on them.

The Pacific Fisheries Legislative Task Force is made up of legislators appointed from the legislatures of Western states that have an interest in Pacific fisheries management. The Task Force meets twice a year and serves as a clearinghouse for opinion from the various interests involved in Pacific fishing. Duties of its members include reporting to the legislatures and Congressional delegations of the participating states on issues involving the protection and fostering of fishing in the Pacific region.

The Task Force also creates a block of fishery-interested state legislators who can effectively lobby Washington elected officials on the importance of sustaining our unique fisheries.