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Senate approves Wiggins Bill to enhance salmon-protection program; bill now heads to Assembly for approval

Posted by: Maven on May 25, 2009 at 8:11 am

From the website of Senator Pat Wiggins:

The State Senate voted 30-4 today to approve legislation by North Coast Senator Patricia Wiggins (D – Santa Rosa) to extend an important state program dedicated toward restoration of California’s salmon fisheries. Senate approval of SB 778 means the measure next heads to the Assembly for consideration.

In presenting her bill before the Senate this morning, Wiggins described SB 778 as “a bill that continues the tradition of commercial fishermen dedicating a portion of their permit fees to help restore the salmon fisheries that sustain their industry.” State law prevents a member of the fishing industry from taking salmon unless they have a commercial fishing salmon stamp affixed to his/her commercial fishing license. The salmon stamp program is administered by the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG).

Many hunting and fishing groups have helped to bolster the revenues of the DFG by supporting the sale of additional stamps for specific game and fish species that are sold in conjunction with individual hunting and fishing licenses or commercial fishing licenses. There are specific stamps for several species of fish and game mammals. Revenues from the sales of these stamps are generally intended to benefit the specific species for which the stamp was sold. The revenues from many of these species-specific stamps go into separate accounts at the DFG.

“The salmon stamp program has a long history of voluntary participation among a wide range of commercial fishermen,” Wiggins noted. “That’s because they recognize their livelihood depends on the abundance of salmon.”

According to the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, the salmon stamp program has supported a highly successful broodstock program for Sacramento winter-run salmon that were near extinction in the 1990s. The funds have also been useful in leveraging other state, federal, and private funds for salmon restoration. The Association supports the Wiggins bill, which moves the salmon stamp program from a sliding scale to a flat rate, which it says will help enhance the funding mechanism for the program.

“For the second year in a row, salmon population numbers are so low that the National Marine Fisheries Service has banned all salmon fishing along the California and Oregon coastline,” she added. “Because of the salmon crisis, fishermen are volunteering to raise the cost of salmon permit to $350.”

Wiggins represents California’s 2nd Senate District, which stretches from Humboldt County to Solano County and includes the counties of Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma.

May 25, 2009 · Filed Under Northern California

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