Commercial fishing: commercial fishing salmon stamp.

(1) Existing law prohibits specified persons from taking salmon for commercial purposes unless the person has a commercial fishing salmon stamp affixed to his or her commercial fishing license. Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue a commercial fishing salmon stamp, upon application for the stamp and payment of a base fee of $85. That base fee is required to be adjusted during specified commercial salmon seasons. However, existing law prohibits the total fees, as adjusted, from exceeding $260. Existing law requires that fee revenues be deposited in the Commercial Salmon Stamp Account, which was abolished March 14, 2013, by the Controller pursuant to specified statutory provisions, in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund, and be available to the department upon appropriation by the Legislature for new or expanded salmon restoration and enhancement programs in the state that will serve to increase ocean salmon landings. Existing law provides that not more than 15% of the funds may be used to pay the costs incurred in the administration of the program. Existing law repeals these provisions as of January 1, 2014. The bill would extend the operation of these provisions until January 1, 2019, would recast them to replace references to the Commercial Salmon Stamp Account with references to the Commercial Salmon Stamp Dedicated Subaccount, which the bill would establish in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund, and would require the transfer of specified moneys from the Fish and Game Preservation Fund to the new subaccount. The bill would also make other conforming changes and delete obsolete cross-references. (2) Existing law generally makes a violation of fish and game laws a crime. Because this bill would extend operation of the commercial salmon fishing program and thereby the crimes imposed for a violation of those provisions, the bill would create a state-mandated local program by creating new crimes. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.