Marine fisheries: forage species.

Existing law, enacted as part of the Marine Life Management Act of 1998, generally establishes a comprehensive plan for the management of marine life resources. Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Game to develop, and submit to the Fish and Game Commission for its approval, a fishery management master plan, and provides for the preparation and approval of fishery management plans, which form the primary basis for managing California's sport and commercial marine fisheries. This bill would state that it is the policy objective of the state to ensure the conservation, sustainable use, and, where applicable, restoration of California's forage species populations, including their habitats and associated water quality, for the benefit of all citizens of the state, and achieve ecosystem-based management of marine forage species that recognizes, prioritizes, accounts for, and incorporates the ecological services rendered by forage species, including the dependence of predator species on those forage species. The bill would define "forage species" and "ecosystem-based management" for those purposes. The bill would require new fishery management plans and amendments to existing fishery management plans for forage species completed after January 1, 2012, to be consistent with that policy, to the extent that scientific data is readily available for that purpose.