California abolishes large ocean fishing nets

SACRAMENTO — California has finally caught up with the rest of the West Coast in banning drift gillnets by 2023. It was one of the rare scenarios where the state was not out in front of a hot button environmental issue. Senate Bill 1017 (SB 1017) – introduced by State Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica – was officially signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sept. 27. The bill’s passage and signing brings California level with similar actions taken by Washington and Oregon on drift gillnet fishery regulations. California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, or DFW, must, by March 21, 2020, develop a program to voluntarily transition drift gillnet permit holders out of the fishery. The transition must take place by or before Jan. 31, 2023. The new law also would not create or recognize any property rights “in fish expected to be caught using a [drift gillnet] permit,” a legislative analysis of SB 1017 stated. Gillnets are used by commercial fishing vessels to catch swordfish. The nets, however, catch – and often kill or harm – other fish species. “Gillnets are designed to catch a specific size range of fish, but are not species specific,” an Assembly analysis of SB 1017 stated. “They...