BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 849
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 26, 2005

                   ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
                                  Lois Wolk, Chair
                  AB 849 (Berg) - As Introduced:  February 18, 2005
           
          SUBJECT  :   Fish and Game: marine research

           SUMMARY  :   Encourages collaborative research between fishing men  
          and women and the state.   Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Establishes state policy to facilitate collaboration between  
            fishing men and women and scientists and researchers at the  
            Department of Fish and Game (DFG).

          2)Makes legislative findings as to the importance of utilizing  
            the knowledge of marine fishing men and women in researching  
            and managing ocean resources nationwide.

           EXISTING LAW  regulates activities affecting coastal and marine  
          fishery resources, particularly through DFG.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   None.

           COMMENTS  :   A Pew Ocean Commission report and President Bush's  
          U.S. Ocean Action Plan stress the importance of comprehensive,  
          centralized research and data management programs for ocean  
          ecosystems. The author asserts that this bill is an initial step  
          toward collaborative research and ecosystem management for the  
          state's coastal and marine resources.

          Collaborative management involves the direct involvement of  
          working fishermen in gathering marine data to support informed  
          management of ocean fisheries.  As an example of effective  
          collaborative management, the author offers the Gulf of Maine,  
          where lobstermen and others work side-by-side with agency  
          managers and university researchers gathering data and entering  
          it into widely accessible database systems. The researchers have  
          found the fishermen's "native knowledge" to be extremely vital  
          in strengthening fisheries management programs.  This bill's  
          adoption of a state policy, however, does not clearly accomplish  
          collaborative management.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   









                                                                  AB 849
                                                                  Page  2

           Support 
           
          Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Associations (sponsor)
          The Ocean Conservancy

           Opposition 
           
          None submitted.
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Alf W. Brandt / W., P. & W. / (916)  
          319-2096