Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp.

Existing law prohibits a person from sport fishing in the tidal waters of the San Francisco Bay Delta and the main stem of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, including major tributaries, below the most downstream dam, unless he or she first obtains a Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp or validation and affixes that stamp or validation to a valid sport fishing license. Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Game or an authorized license agent to issue a Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp or validation upon payment of a prescribed fee. Existing law requires the funds generated by the imposition of these fees to be deposited in a separate account in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund, to be used solely for the long-term, sustainable benefit of the primary Bay-Delta sport fisheries, as specified. Existing law requires the director to appoint a 9 member Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp Fund Advisory Committee to recommend to the department projects and budgets for the expenditure of fee revenue. Those provisions are repealed as of January 1, 2010. This bill would repeal the requirement to obtain a Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp or validation. The bill would continue indefinitely the Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp Advisory Committee, and would require the department to implement various provisions related to expenditures from the account. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the advisory committee, to develop a grant program, as prescribed. The department would be required to post on its Internet Web site projects undertaken with funds from the account.