BILL NUMBER: AB 1217	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  279
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 11, 2009
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 11, 2009
	PASSED THE SENATE  SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 8, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 1, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 28, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 15, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 20, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Monning
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Caballero, Krekorian, and Salas)

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act to amend Sections 35550 and 35650 of, and to add Section
35617 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to ocean resources.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1217, Monning. Ocean Protection Council: sustainable seafood.
   The California Ocean Protection Act establishes the Ocean
Protection Council in state government and provides that the council
consists of the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, the
Secretary for Environmental Protection, the Chair of the State Lands
Commission, and 2 public members appointed by the Governor. The act
requires the council, among other things, to coordinate activities of
state agencies that are related to the protection and conservation
of coastal waters and ocean ecosystems and to establish policies to
coordinate the collection and sharing of scientific data related to
coast and ocean resources between agencies.
   The act also creates the California Ocean Protection Council Trust
Fund in the State Treasury and authorizes moneys deposited in the
fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be expended by the
council for projects and activities authorized by the council
consistent with the purposes of the act.
   This bill would require the council to develop and implement a
specified voluntary sustainable seafood promotion program. The
program would, among other things, consist of a protocol to guide
entities on how to be independently certified to internationally
accepted standards for sustainable seafood, as defined, a marketing
assistance program, and a competitive grant and loan program. It
would prohibit seafood produced through aquaculture or fish farming
from being certified as sustainable under these provisions until
nationally or internationally accepted sustainability standards have
been developed and implemented.
   The bill also would provide that moneys in the trust fund may be
expended for grants or loans to a private entity for projects or
activities that further public purposes consistent with the voluntary
sustainable seafood promotion program.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) It is the Legislature's intent in enacting this act to
encourage California fisheries to seek certification in accordance
with internationally accepted standards for sustainability and to
promote the purchase and consumption of certified California
sustainable seafood.
   (b) The world's oceans provide the people of California with a
wealth of ecological resources, including seafood.
   (c) Unsustainable fishing practices can have adverse consequences
on ocean ecosystems, placing wildlife and resources at risk.
   (d) Within the commercial fishing sector there are a variety of
existing methods and practices that can reduce the environmental
impacts of seafood production.
   (e) California fisheries have been at the forefront of efforts to
protect and restore fish stocks and engage in responsible and
sustainable fishing practices.
   (f) Internationally accepted standards for sustainable seafood
have been developed and implemented; however, no such standards have
yet been developed or implemented for aquaculture or fish farming.
   (g) Market-based approaches informed by consumer demand, including
product differentiation, labeling, and marketing, can provide
incentives to improve the sustainability of seafood production.
   (h) The State of California is a major producer and consumer of
seafood that is marketed in the United States and abroad.
   (i) Some California fisheries have adopted sustainable practices
consistent with internationally accepted standards and should be
recognized in the marketplace and others should be encouraged to do
so.
  SEC. 2.  Section 35550 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   35550.  Unless the context requires otherwise, the following
definitions govern this division:
   (a) "Council" means the Ocean Protection Council established
pursuant to Section 35600.
   (b) "Fund" means the California Ocean Protection Trust Fund
established pursuant to Section 35650.
   (c) "Internationally accepted standards for sustainable seafood"
means standards that meet all of the following criteria:
   (1) Meet or exceed the Guidelines for the Ecolabeling of Fish and
Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries promulgated by the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
   (2) Conform to all of the following principles:
   (A) A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to
overfishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those
populations that are depleted, the fishery must be conducted in a
manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery.
   (B) Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the
structure, productivity, function, and diversity of the ecosystem,
including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related
species on which the fishery depends.
   (C) The fishery is subject to an effective management system that
respects local, national, and international laws and standards and
incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require
use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable.
   (d) "Public agency" means a city, county, city and county,
district, or the state or any agency or department of the state.
   (e) "Sustainable" and "sustainability" mean both of the following:

   (1) Continuous replacement of resources, taking into account
fluctuations in abundance and environmental variability.
   (2) Securing the fullest possible range of present and long-term
economic, social, and ecological benefits, while maintaining
biological diversity.
  SEC. 3.  Section 35617 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
   35617.  (a) The Ocean Protection Council shall develop and
implement a voluntary sustainable seafood promotion program for the
state.
   (b) The program shall consist of all of the following:
   (1) A protocol to guide entities on how to be independently
certified to internationally accepted standards for sustainable
seafood. The protocol must be developed in a transparent process and
adopted by the council in a public meeting. The council shall
identify in a public document that the provisions of subdivision (c)
of Section 35550 have been met.
   (2) (A) A marketing assistance program for seafood caught in
California that is independently certified to internationally
accepted standards for sustainable seafood. The council shall consult
with the Department of Food and Agriculture in implementing this
paragraph.
   (B) Consistent with subparagraph (A), the marketing assistance
program shall consist of competitive grants and loans for discrete
and limited activities to benefit participants in the fishing
industry in California.
   (3) A competitive grant and loan program, only in years in which
funds are appropriated by the Legislature to the California Ocean
Protection Trust Fund, for eligible entities, including, but not
limited to, fishery groups and associations, for the purpose of
assisting California fisheries in qualifying for certification to
internationally accepted standards for sustainable seafood. This
program may be implemented in coordination with other state and
private programs to maximize its effectiveness.
   (4) The design of a label or labels that may be used exclusively
to identify seafood caught in California that is certified to
internationally accepted standards as sustainable seafood.
   (c) Seafood produced through aquaculture or fish farming shall not
be certified as sustainable under this division until nationally or
internationally accepted sustainability standards have been developed
and implemented.
  SEC. 4.  Section 35650 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   35650.  (a) The California Ocean Protection Trust Fund is
established in the State Treasury.
   (b) Moneys deposited in the fund may be expended, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for both of the following:
   (1) Projects and activities authorized by the council consistent
with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 35600).
   (2) Upon authorization by the council, for grants or loans to
public agencies, nonprofit corporations, or private entities for, or
direct expenditures on, projects or activities that do one or more of
the following:
   (A) Eliminate or reduce threats to coastal and ocean ecosystems,
habitats, and species.
   (B) Improve the management of fisheries through grants or loans
for the development and implementation of fishery management plans
pursuant to Part 1.7 (commencing with Section 7050) of Division 6 of
the Fish and Game Code, a part of the Marine Life Management Act of
1998, that promote long-term stewardship and collaboration with
fishery participants to develop strategies that increase
environmental and economic sustainability. Eligible projects and
activities include, but are not limited to, innovative
community-based or cooperative management and allocation strategies
that create incentives for ecosystem improvement. Eligible
expenditures include, but are not limited to, costs related to
activities identified in subdivisions (a), (b), and (d) of Section
7075 of the Fish and Game Code, fishery research, monitoring, data
collection and analysis to support adaptive management, and other
costs related to the development and implementation of a fishery
management plan developed pursuant to this subparagraph.
   (C) Foster sustainable fisheries, including grants or loans for
one or more of the following:
   (i) Projects that encourage the development and use of more
selective fishing gear.
   (ii) The design of community-based or cooperative management
mechanisms that promote long-term stewardship and collaboration with
fishery participants to develop strategies that increase
environmental and economic sustainability.
   (iii) Collaborative research and demonstration projects between
fishery participants, scientists, and other interested parties.
   (iv) Promotion of value-added wild fisheries to offset economic
losses attributable to reduced fishing opportunities.
   (v) The creation of revolving loan programs for the purpose of
implementing sustainable fishery projects.
   (D) Improve coastal water quality.
   (E) Allow for increased public access to, and enjoyment of, ocean
and coastal resources, consistent with sustainable, long-term
protection and conservation of those resources.
   (F) Improve management, conservation, and protection of coastal
waters and ocean ecosystems.
   (G) Provide monitoring and scientific data to improve state
efforts to protect and conserve ocean resources.
   (H) Protect, conserve, and restore coastal waters and ocean
ecosystems, including any of the following:
   (i) Acquisition, installation, and initiation of monitoring and
enforcement systems.
   (ii) Acquisition from willing sellers of vessels, equipment,
licenses, harvest rights, permits, and other rights and property, to
reduce threats to ocean ecosystems and resources.
   (I) Address coastal water contamination from biological pathogens,
including collaborative projects and activities to identify the
sources of pathogens and develop detection systems and treatment
methods.
   (J) (i) Provide funding for adaptive management, planning,
coordination, monitoring, research, and other necessary activities to
minimize the adverse impacts of climate change on California's ocean
ecosystem, including, but not limited to, the effects of sea level
rise, changes in ocean productivity, and ocean acidification on
coastal and ocean habitat, wildlife, fisheries, chemistry, and other
key attributes of ocean ecosystems and to increase the state's
understanding of the ocean's role in carbon sequestration. Adaptive
management strategies, planning, research, monitoring, or other
activities shall be designed to improve the management of coastal and
ocean resources or aid the state to adapt to climate change impacts.

   (ii) Information or activities developed under clause (i), to the
extent appropriate, shall provide guidance to the State Air Resources
Board for the adoption of early action measures for the elimination
or reduction of emissions from sources or categories of sources
pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act (Division
25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code).
   (c) Grants or loans may be made to a private entity pursuant to
this section only for projects or activities that further public
purposes consistent with Sections 35510, 35515, and 35617.
   (d) Consistent with the purposes specified in Section 35515, and
in furtherance of the findings in Sections 7059 and 7060 of the Fish
and Game Code, the council, in authorizing grants or loans for
projects or expenditures pursuant to this section, shall promote
coordination of state programs and activities that protect and
conserve ocean resources to avoid redundancy and conflicts to ensure
that the state's programs and activities are complementary.