Delta smelt.

Existing law requires the Fish and Game Commission to establish fish hatcheries for the purposes of stocking the waters of California with fish, and requires the Department of Fish and Game to maintain and operate those hatcheries. This bill would enact the Delta Smelt Preservation and Restoration Act of 2009. The act would require the department to develop a Delta smelt hatchery program to preserve and restore the Delta smelt. The program would operate as a mitigation bank that provides take authorizations to banking partners and obtains funding from banking agreements. The bill would transfer an unspecified amount of funds from an unspecified source which would be continuously appropriated to the department for purposes of the act.