Commercial fishing: steelhead trout: Dungeness crab

The law keeps steelhead data collection and Dungeness crab protections, permitting, trap limits, and entanglement-risk rules in place for several more years. It also creates new compliance costs for anglers who fail to return steelhead cards and procedures for crab vessels crossing closed waters.

What the law does ​

• Extends the steelhead trout fishing report-restoration card program through January 1, 2032, and requires a Department of Fish and Wildlife report to the Legislature by July 1, 2030.
• Charges a $20 base late or nonreturn fee, adjustable annually, to people who miss the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s steelhead card return deadline; they cannot buy a later card until they pay.
• Extends Dungeness crab entanglement-risk rules, fishery delays and closures, vessel permits, trap limits, trap retrieval, and task-force provisions through January 1, 2037.
• Allows vessels to continuously transit Dungeness crab closure areas with crab and traps onboard if they give 72-hour advance notice, use operating electronic monitoring, secure unusable unbaited traps, and meet other conditions.
• Requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife, subject to legislative appropriation, to fund the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission from the Dungeness Crab Account under an annual task-force spending plan.

Who it affects ​

• Inland-water steelhead anglers.
• Commercial Dungeness crab vessel owners, operators, permit holders, processors, and trap-retrieval permit holders.
• The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Fish and Game Commission, Ocean Protection Council, and California Dungeness Crab Task Force.

Context ​

The law continues most Dungeness crab provisions seven years beyond their prior 2030 expiration date.

Breakdown ​

Steelhead Fishing Report Cards ​

SB 1393 adds a late or nonreturn fee for people who do not submit their steelhead trout fishing report-restoration card by the deadline set by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. It also keeps the card program in effect for five more years, requires a later report to the Legislature, and continues enforcement of the card requirement as a crime.

Key takeaways

• People who fail to return their steelhead trout fishing report-restoration card by the department's deadline must pay a late or nonreturn fee.
• The Department of Fish and Wildlife must report to the Legislature on the program's projects by July 1, 2030.
• The bill extends the steelhead trout fishing report-restoration card program until January 1, 2032.
• Because violating the continued card requirement can be a crime, the bill creates a state-required local enforcement responsibility.

Dungeness Crab Entanglement Rules ​

The bill extends California’s Dungeness crab entanglement-risk rules and related restrictions until January 1, 2037, instead of allowing them to expire in 2030. It also allows vessels to pass through closed waters with crab traps and Dungeness crab aboard when they meet specified conditions.

Key takeaways

• The bill keeps the existing Dungeness crab entanglement-risk regulations and related provisions in effect for seven additional years, through January 1, 2037.
• The Director of Fish and Wildlife may continue to restrict Dungeness crab fishing under the existing entanglement-risk criteria and protocols.
• Fishing for or possessing Dungeness crab in closed waters, or violating take restrictions, remains unlawful while these provisions are extended.
• The bill permits vessels to transit through closed waters with Dungeness crab traps and crab on board if they meet specified conditions.
• Because violations of the extended restrictions are crimes, the extension creates a state-mandated local program.

Dungeness Crab Task Force Extension ​

This part extends the Dungeness crab task force and its related provisions through January 1, 2037, rather than letting them end in 2030. It also allows the Department of Fish and Wildlife, if the Legislature provides funding, to send money from the Dungeness Crab Account to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission under a spending plan developed by the task force.

Key takeaways

• The bill keeps the Dungeness crab task force and its existing duties in place until January 1, 2037.
• The bill postpones the repeal of the task force provisions from January 1, 2030, to January 1, 2037.
• Until January 1, 2037, the task force must develop a spending plan for the funding described in the bill.
• If the Legislature appropriates the money, the department must provide funding from the Dungeness Crab Account to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission in line with that spending plan.

State Reimbursement ​

The bill states that local agencies and school districts do not have to be reimbursed for costs created by this act. It identifies a specified reason for denying reimbursement under California’s state-mandate rules.

Key takeaways

• The bill says no state reimbursement is required for costs caused by this act.
• This provision applies to local agencies and school districts.
• The bill relies on a specified reason to conclude that reimbursement is not required.