Crab vessels may cross closed waters under strict safeguards

The department must charge a fee when someone does not return a steelhead report-restoration card by its deadline. This applies to people required to hold a steelhead report-restoration card to fish for steelhead in inland waters. The department cannot sell that person a card for a later year until the fee is paid. The base fee is $20 for the 2028 license year and may be adjusted each year. The department and commission cannot waive it. Fee revenue follows the same rules as card revenue and may be spent only after legislative approval. The fee applies when a card is not returned by the date set by the department. The $20 base fee is for the 2028 license year.

The measure extends the steelhead card program, Dungeness crab fishing provisions, and crab task force provisions. The extensions cover the steelhead report-restoration card program, Dungeness crab fishing rules, and Dungeness crab task force provisions. The extension keeps the existing program and provisions in effect; it does not establish new benefits described in those provisions. The steelhead provisions end January 1, 2032. The crab provisions end January 1, 2037.

A vessel may cross waters closed under the Dungeness crab entanglement rules with crab and traps aboard if it meets specified safeguards. This applies to vessels carrying Dungeness crab and crab traps through waters closed under Section 8276.1. Regulations or an action by the director may prohibit the transit. The owner or operator must notify the department at least 72 hours before entry and provide required trip information. The vessel must travel continuously on a route as direct as practical, without stopping or delaying, at more than three knots. Approved electronic monitoring must operate, and traps must be secured without bait so they cannot be used. The owner or operator must submit notice at least 72 hours before entering the closed area. Transit must be continuous and remain above three knots.

If lawmakers appropriate funds, the department must provide money from the Dungeness Crab Account to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission under a task force spending plan. This covers money from the Dungeness Crab Account for the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. Funding depends on a legislative appropriation and available account funds after specified allocations and a prudent reserve. The task force must develop and submit the spending plan to the Legislature. The task force must submit its first plan by December 31, 2027, and another by December 31 each year after that. This section becomes inoperative January 1, 2037.