Bill Text: CA SJR7 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Chaptered

---

Bill Title: Public resources: salmon: fishery restoration.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)

Status: (Passed) 2017-09-22 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 188, Statutes of 2017. [SJR7 Detail]

Download: California-2017-SJR7-Chaptered.html

---

Senate Joint Resolution No. 7

CHAPTER 188

Relative to salmon fishery restoration.

[ Filed with Secretary of State  September 22, 2017. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SJR 7, McGuire. Public resources: salmon: fishery restoration.

This measure would urge state and federal departments and agencies responsible for the stewardship of public resources, as specified, to make collaborative, statewide salmon fishery restoration an urgent and high priority. The measure would also urge the federal government to undertake all appropriate measures to provide necessary disaster relief for California salmon fisheries for 2016 and 2017.

Digest Key

Fiscal Committee: YES  

---

Bill Text

WHEREAS, Salmon has been a fundamental and irreplaceable part of the cultural traditions of Native American tribes in California, and a staple of Native American diets, since time immemorial; and

WHEREAS, The California salmon fishery is among the oldest and most important historic commercial fisheries in California, and among the most iconic commercial, recreational, and tribal fisheries in the United States; and

WHEREAS, The California Bay-Delta ecosystem, including the rivers that flow into it, is the most important salmon-producing system south of the Columbia River; and

WHEREAS, The Klamath and Trinity Rivers are home to culturally and commercially important, and biologically unique, salmon runs; and

WHEREAS, The California salmon fishery annually draws a vast amount of trade and tourism to California; and

WHEREAS, A decade ago, the California salmon fishery supported 23,000 jobs and $1.4 billion in economic activity; and

WHEREAS, California salmon contains high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, offers abundant health benefits for Californians, including lower cholesterol and lower risk of skin and breast cancer, and is delicious; and

WHEREAS, Salmon runs are responsible for the largest transfer of biomass from the oceans to the land on the planet and are vital to the healthy functioning of ecosystems from the coast to the mountains; and

WHEREAS, Salmon spawned in California rivers are caught by fishermen in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and as far away as Alaska; and

WHEREAS, The health of a salmon population is an important benchmark of the health of its native rivers and ecosystems; and

WHEREAS, The Fish and Game Code and the State Water Resources Control Board Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan establish the doubling of wild salmon populations as state policy; and

WHEREAS, The California salmon fishery was closed from 2008 to 2009 due to declining populations and fish kill of salmon resulting from decreased river flows and warm water conditions that caused direct mortality, leading to dramatic impacts on the fishing industry and fishing-dependent communities; and

WHEREAS, Salmon populations have declined during California’s historic drought; and

WHEREAS, Depressed salmon populations in 2015 and 2016 have resulted in a shorter fishing season, a reduction in landed fish from 981,000 annually from 1986 to 1990, inclusive, to 92,000 in 2016, and severe hardship to the fishing industry and fishing-dependent communities; and

WHEREAS, Many salmon populations in California are listed as endangered or threatened under the California Endangered Species Act or the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, or both, including Central Valley winter-run and spring-run Chinook salmon, California Coastal Chinook salmon, and all coho salmon; and

WHEREAS, The United States Secretary of Commerce determined a commercial fishery failure for the Yurok Tribe Klamath River Chinook salmon fishery in 2016 due to a fishery resource disaster; and

WHEREAS, On May 24, 2017, the Governors of California and Oregon urged the Secretary of Commerce to expedite declaration of a fishery resource disaster for California and Oregon for the 2016 and 2017 seasons; and

WHEREAS, It is critical that further commercial fishery failure determinations be made, fishery resource disasters declared, and disaster relief provided, for California salmon fisheries for 2016 and 2017; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature urges state departments and agencies, including the Natural Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Wildlife Conservation Board, the Department of Water Resources, the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, and the State Water Resources Control Board, to make collaborative, statewide salmon fishery restoration an urgent and high priority; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature urges federal departments and agencies, including the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Reclamation, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Marine Fisheries Service, to make collaborative, statewide salmon fishery restoration an urgent and high priority; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature urges the federal government to undertake all appropriate measures to provide necessary disaster relief for California salmon fisheries for 2016 and 2017; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, to the Secretary for Environmental Protection, to the Director of Fish and Wildlife, to the Executive Director of the Wildlife Conservation Board, to the Director of Water Resources, to the President of the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, to the Chairperson of the State Water Resources Control Board, to the Secretary of the Interior, to the Commissioner of Reclamation, to the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, to the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.