AB 2363 Summary

• Authorizes sale of Dungeness crab meat from quality testing programs with revenues deposited in an account managed by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission and used to fund testing operations.

• Allows Dungeness crab permitholders to request fee waivers for trap tag allocation appeals to an administrative law judge based on medical hardship or military service, and requires the department to decide appeals to reduce trap tag allocations.

• Establishes requirements for vessel permit transfers including minimum 5,000-pound Dungeness crab landings over past two seasons and equivalent vessel capacity; requires proof of loss, damage, theft, mechanical breakdown, or destruction for transfers.

• Authorizes the department to develop regulations for retrieval of lost or abandoned commercial crab traps in consultation with the Dungeness Crab Task Force.

• Increases county fish and wildlife propagation fund administrative cost limits from 3% or $3,000 annually to 15% or $10,000 annually; adds $200 transfer fee for Dungeness crab vessel permits.