Hi,

DFG recently announced that it may close Mojave River, Hot Creek and Merced River Hatcheries. Mad River Hatchery is slated for closure in April. These closures are unnecessary as there is more fishing license revenue coming in this year than in previous years.

I would hope that we can all get behind this issue and let the Governor and new DFG Director know that hatcheries are an important part of the overall fishing program.

AB 590 which would have solved this problem, was killed in the assembly early this year. A new hatchery bill is now being written. DFG has vowed to fight the new bill.

Please help to keep our hatcheries operating.

:)

The new bill is AB2280. It has been authored by Assemblyman Dave Cogdill. It is almost identical to the previous bill. It states that an unspecified percentage of fishing license revenue shall be dedicated to fish hatcheries and fish planting facilities. The percentage of revenue will be determined later. We need between 30%and 40% to keep all the state hatcheries funded.

I will be meeting with Dave Cogdill in a couple of weeks to discuss strategy of how to get this bill through the legislature. This bill would save the hatchery system. Without this bill some hatcheries will definitely close.

If you would like to view the contents of the bill, go to www.assembly.ca.gov and put AB 2280 in the search box.

If Mojave River Hatchery closes, some of the waters of So Cal such as Silverwood, Big Bear Lake, Lake Hemet and many others will be without trout plants.

Here is a copy of the bill.




BILL NUMBER: AB 2280 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cogdill

FEBRUARY 19, 2004

An act to add Section 13007 to the Fish and Game Code, relating to
sport fishing, and making an appropriation therefor.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2280, as introduced, Cogdill. Sport fishing: license revenues:
Hatcheries and Fish Planting Facilities.
Under existing law, all money collected under the provisions of
the Fish and Game Code is deposited into the Fish and Game
Preservation Fund, unless otherwise provided.
Existing law provides that, of the money collected from fees for
lifetime sportsman's licenses, lifetime hunting licenses, and
lifetime sport fishing licenses, $20 from the initial issuance of
each lifetime license is deposited into the Fish and Game
Preservation Fund for the costs of hunting and sport fishing
programs, and the rest is deposited in the Lifetime License Trust
Account within that fund, the principal of which is to be used for
investment, except as specified.
This bill instead would provide an unspecified amount of
percentage derived from the issuance of all sport fishing licenses,
with the exception of revenue currently designated for deposit into
the Lifetime License Trust Account, be deposited into the Hatcheries
and Fish Planting Facilities Fund, which the bill would establish in
the State Treasury. The bill would continuously appropriate money in
the fund to the Department of Fish and Game for the Hatcheries and
Fish Planting Facilities program.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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


SECTION 1. Section 13007 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to
read:
13007. Notwithstanding Section 13001 and paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) of Section 13005, ____ percent of all sport fishing
license fees collected pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section
7145) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 6 shall be deposited into
the Hatcheries and Fish Planting Facilities Fund, which is hereby
established in the State Treasury. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of
the Government Code, the moneys in the fund are hereby continuously
appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, to the Department of
Fish and Game for the Hatcheries and Fish Planting Facilities
program.

In support of this effort, what can we send and to whom exactly? Should we all send a letter stating our support? If so, please type up a draft letter. Leave space for a signature type. Also, give us a link to all email addresses.

Thanks,

Rick R.

I will be meeting with Assemblyman Dave Cogdill in a couple of weeks to develop strategy for getting the bill passed through the Legislature. For now, pass the word about this important bill. You can also contact your Assemblymember. Eventually, we will need to pressure both the Governor and the Director of DFG. I don't think that the Governor will have a problem with the bill but DFG has stated that they will fight the bill. We as anglers must demand that the money we spend on fishing licenses is used for fishing programs.

We cannot afford any more cuts to the hatchery system....


James "Brad" Willis
CSEA Bargaining Unit 11 Negotiating Council
Mojave River Hatchery
Victorville,CA
mojavekroc@msn.com or
jwillis@dfg.ca.gov

The question is: Can I count on the members of this board to support the bill? I am meeting with the author of the bill next week at the State Capitol to work on the bill.

If the bill does not pass, some hatcheries are going to close.