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“The Dungeness crab fishery is one of the most high-volume and profitable fisheries off the West Coast,” Wiggins said in her testimony before the committee today. “However, the Dungeness crab fishery experiences ‘derby dynamics,’ where fishermen race to compete for the valuable catch at the start of the season.
“This ‘race for crab’ leads to safety concerns for the fishermen, wasted effort and inefficient fishing, supply gluts and crab waste, and lost gear in the water,” she added. “SB 1690 seeks to address these issues by bringing together fishermen from California’s eight crab ports to develop sustainable fishery policies.”
Dungeness crab is caught almost exclusively by “pot gear” in both state and federal waters. There is no federal fishery management plan. The state legislatures have authority over the fishery in each of the three states, although both Washington and Oregon have provided for many management decisions about time, place and conduct of the fishery to be made within the resource agencies or administrative bodies.
Dungeness crab management has historically revolved on the “3-S” principle – sex, size, and season. The size and sex restrictions protect egg-bearing females and allow mature male crabs a few seasons to mate. Seasonal closures are timed generally just after adult male annual molting to avoid catching soft-shelled crabs with low meat quality.
All three states enacted restricted entry programs in 1995. California has the largest number of crab vessel permits: A total of 602 were issued for the 2006-07 season, 84 of which were issued as non-resident permits for boats from out of state.
“Given the complexity of the fishery and its management structure, as well as a sense of urgency to slow the race for crab, a comprehensive approach to effective management reform requires attention to the short-term and longer-term institutions and process,” Wiggins said.
Her bill, SB 1690, would establish an advisory committee comprised of commercial crab fishermen to work with the California Department of Fish and Game, and the Ocean Protection Council, on recommendations to address management issues in commercial crab fishing, such as catch and “pot” limits, fishery permit limits and season opening dates.
“This bill is sponsored by the Environmental Defense Fund, which worked with fishermen throughout the state to craft a fair and representative process to develop policy recommendations,” Wiggins said.
Now that SB 1690 has been approved by the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, it next heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for further review.
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On Wednesday, the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization voted 13-0 to approve Senate Bill (SB) 157, new legislation by Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) designed to make all of those previously-enacted laws consistent.
Existing law allows winegrowers to conduct tastings of their products away from their places of business, including at fundraising events held by non-profit organizations. They may also accept orders for their wines at such events, but they are limited to filling those orders back at their businesses.
In 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 108, legislation by Senator Wiggins that expanded the number of non-profit organizations that can hold wine tasting events where wineries can take orders to be filled afterwards.
SB 108 created more opportunities for small wineries in California to introduce or build awareness of their brand while also allowing more non-profits to utilize wine tastings for fund raising purposes. In addition, it offered consumers other venues to discover difficult-to-find wines.
Wiggins, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on California’s Wine Industry, said her bill, SB 157, would ensure that all non-profits currently recognized under the existing laws are treated according to the same standards.
“This bill will make it easier for wineries and non-profits organizations to understand what events can be held and what activities may occur at those events,” Wiggins said.
“Logic suggests that if a winery can take orders at events held by 11 nonprofit types, they should also be able to donate and pour wine at those events, but as the laws now stand, it’s not clear whether they can,” she added. “This bill will clarify that winegrowers can donate and pour at the same set of non-profit organizations that elect to hold these kinds of events, while also being able to take orders for wine that they can fill back at their wineries or businesses.”
SB 157’s sponsor, the Family Winemakers of California (FWC), said the bill would allow more non-profit organizational types to collaborate with wine producers to provide attractive events for consumers.
According to FWC President Paul Kronenberg, “Under this bill, consumers win, the non-profits derive more income for important activities benefiting local groups and wine producers win because they have another brand-building opportunity and the potential to sell some wine in collaboration with a worthwhile cause.”
The Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization approved SB 157 as part of its consent calendar. The bill next heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for consideration.
Wiggins represents California’s Second Senate District, which includes the premium wine-growing regions of Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties.
For more information on SB 157 or other bills that Wiggins has authored, please visit her Web site: http://dist02.casen.govoffice.com/.
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