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SANTA ROSA, Calif. – State Sen. Mike McGuire, chairman of the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture, and Assemblyman Jim Wood, committee vice-chair, are hosting a hearing focused on the delayed opening of the Dungeness crab season.
“The California Dungeness and Rock Crab Fishery: Public Health, Ocean Conditions and Maintaining a Strong Coastal Economy” will take place from 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, in the main room of the Steele Lane Community Center, 415 Steele Lane, Santa Rosa.
State and federal agency representatives, fishing industry representatives, leaders from the Dungeness Crab Task Force, North Coast county elected officials and more will participate.
The legislators will be focused on public health issues, ocean conditions and the coastal fishing economy.
A panel of experts will discuss the current status, ocean conditions, what to expect in the weeks ahead and impacts of the season delay.
In early November, just as the recreational and commercial Dungeness crab seasons were set to open, unsafe levels of domoic acid were found in local crab.
“We know that the North Coast is crab country – it’s a top industry here – and the decision to delay the opening did not come lightly,” McGuire said. “This forum will bring all of the industry experts together in one location, focused on protecting the public’s health, ocean conditions and our crab dependent coastal economy.”
“This hearing will provide an important opportunity to bring together industry leaders, and decision makers,” said Wood. “It is crucial that we know what we to expect for the rest of this crab season, and what to be prepared for in the future.”
The closure will remain in effect until the Director of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, in consultation with the Director of the California Department of Public Health, determines that domoic acid levels no longer pose a significant risk to public health and no longer recommends the fisheries be closed.
The Dungeness crab fishery is in the top tier of California’s commercial fisheries. Values have exceeded $95 million per year and long-term averages of nearly $60 million.
For more information on the health advisories and the commission’s decision to delay the recreational Dungeness crab season, visit www.wildlife.ca.gov/fishing/ocean/health-advisories .
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COBB, Calif. – Have you, or your business been impacted by the Valley fire?
WorkforceLake is hosting an informational meeting with representatives from SBA and other local funding service providers to assist in the rebuild of Lake County.
The meeting will take place beginning at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, at Black Rock Golf Course, 16451 Golf Road in Cobb.
Please RSVP to Debra Walker at 707-530-2322.
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EMERYVILLE, Calif. – As the fall and winter holiday travel season gets under way, Californian motorists continue to benefit from relative savings in the price of retail gasoline month-over-month.
According to the latest AAA Fuel Gauge Report, the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular ticks in at $2.84 per gallon, a savings of $1.01 from last year’s prices at this time.
The current average price in Northern California is $2.74 a gallon, a drop of $0.06 from AAA’s last Fuel Gauge Report issued on Oct. 13.
The least expensive fuel continues to be found in Marysville, where the average price for a gallon of regular is $2.47.
The highest price is in San Francisco, where the average price is $2.89 a gallon for unleaded regular gasoline.
The latest data from the U.S. Department of Energy puts gasoline production and the overall utilization rate at virtually the same levels as prior weeks.
Chevron’s refinery, located in Richmond, Calif., is reportedly undergoing the largest turnaround work in history, which also reported a major unit shutdown.
Prior to news of the unplanned outage, the refinery was in the midst of work estimated to last around 80 days. The work included maintenance to the refinery’s fluid catalytic cracker.
“Gasoline demand typically retreats during the month of November, offsetting any major spikes in price due to supply shortages,” said Cynthia Harris, AAA Northern California spokesperson. “But unplanned outages could create volatility and put pressure on the state and national average in the near term.”
Both crude oil benchmarks, Brent and West Texas Intermediate, closed out this past week with three days of losses due to reports of a strengthening U.S. dollar. This further fueled expectations that the market’s current oversupply will continue in the near term.
OPEC’s secretary recently issued comments stressing the cartel’s success at sustaining its market share in light of a lower price environment and stated the expectation that the market will return to balance in the coming year. The cartel plans to convene on Dec. 4 to discuss its strategy moving forward.
WTI opened this week trading higher, following news that the U.S. oil rig count fell for the tenth consecutive week.
This offsets some of the losses seen last week after WTI closed Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX down 91 cents at $44.29 per barrel.
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SACRAMENTO – Driven by another strong month of personal income tax proceeds, state revenues in October beat estimates by $191.9 million, or 3.1 percent, State Controller Betty T. Yee reported.
Personal income tax revenues of $5.1 billion for the month exceeded projections in the state budget signed in July by $234.5 million, or 4.8 percent.
That was more than enough to offset lower-than-expected collections from the state’s two other largest revenue sources, the retail sales and use tax and the corporation tax.
Sales tax revenue of $935 million fell short of projections by $2 million, or 0.2 percent. The corporation tax missed estimates by $89.8 million, or 33.5 percent.
For the fiscal year that started July 1, state revenues are $542.9 million, or 1.9 percent, greater than estimated, with strong collections from the personal income tax erasing shortfalls in the retail sales and use tax and the corporation tax.
Revenues from the personal income tax are running $840.7 million, or 4.3 percent, above expectations for the fiscal year so far.
Retail sales and use taxes have fallen short by $381.1 million, or 5.5 percent, while the corporation tax to date has brought in $190.4 million, or 11.5 percent less than expected.
Total revenue in October of $6.4 billion was 5.7 percent higher than a year ago, with both the personal income tax and the retail sales and use tax outstripping last year’s collections.
Compared to the first four months of the prior fiscal year, revenues to date of $29.8 billion are 7.1 percent higher.
This month’s edition of the Controller’s California Fiscal Focus examines whether growing income inequality will lead to geographic disparities and new challenges for policymakers. For more details on that and other fiscal trends, see the November newsletter.
The state ended October with unused borrowable resources of $20.4 billion – $2.2 billion, or 12.4 percent, greater than projections. This is money available to the general fund, the source of most state spending, from other funds to even out variability in revenue and disbursement patterns.
For the first time in 15 years, these special fund monies appear to be sufficient to meet the cash flow needs of the general fund without the state having to seek external loans, such as revenue anticipation notes.
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