BILL NUMBER: AB 849 INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Berg FEBRUARY 18, 2005 An act to add Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 7059.5) to Part 1.7 of Division 6 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to fisheries. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 849, as introduced, Berg. Fish and game: marine research. Existing law provides for the propagation of fish and for the establishment of an ocean resources enhancement and hatchery plan for the purpose of basic and applied research on the propagation, rearing, stocking, and distribution of adversely affected marine fish species that are important to sport and commercial fishing. This bill would declare that the policy of the state is to facilitate collaboration between fishing men and women and scientists and researchers employed by or contracted to the department in conducting ocean and marine fisheries research, including, but not limited to, the utilization of the knowledge of fishing men and women, their employment in fish stock surveys, data collection, and deployment of scientific equipment, and the utilization of fishing vessels, whenever practical, to serve as platforms for ocean and marine resources research. This bill would also make legislative findings and declarations relating to the utilization of the knowledge of fishing men and women as platforms for ocean and marine fishery research. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 7059.5) is added to Part 1.7 of Division 6 of the Fish and Game Code , to read: CHAPTER 2.5 MARINE FISHERIES AND OCEAN ECOSYSTEM RESEARCH 7059.5. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Research, including ongoing data collection and periodic resource assessments, is essential to the foundation of understanding necessary for the conservation, use, and management of the state's ocean waters and the marine resources therein. (b) Working fishing men and women and other mariners possess special knowledge of ocean waters and resources that should be utilized by marine scientists, fishery biologists, and resource managers in helping to create a full understanding of ocean ecosystems. (c) The knowledge of fishing men and women has been tapped and utilized through cooperative research programs in New England and elsewhere that have proven invaluable in enhancing the understanding of ocean ecosystems and marine living resources. (d) The state should develop a formal and ongoing program to utilize the knowledge of fishing men and women, including the utilization of collaborative ocean and fishery research projects with marine scientists and the utilization of fishing craft, whenever practical, as platforms for ocean and marine fishery research. 7059.6. It is the policy of the state to facilitate collaboration between fishing men and women and scientists and researchers employed by or contracted to the department in conducting ocean and marine fisheries research, including, but not limited to, the utilization of the knowledge of fishing men and women, their employment in fish stock surveys, data collection, and deployment of scientific equipment, and the utilization of fishing vessels, whenever practical, to serve as platforms for ocean and marine resources research.