ARTICLE 3. The California Sea Urchin Commission [79040. - 79057.]

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC 3.

in effect

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79040. Section 79040.

There is in the state government the California Sea Urchin Commission. The commission shall be composed of 11 voting members, including five sea urchin handlers, five sea urchin divers, and one public member, and may include any number of nonvoting members, at the discretion of the commission. (a) Handlers shall elect five commission members from among those persons qualified pursuant to this act and licensed pursuant to the Fish and Game Code to engage in the sea urchin fishery or a person specifically representing one or more handlers. (b) (1) Divers statewide shall elect five persons from among those persons qualified pursuant to this act and licensed pursuant to the Fish and Game Code to engage in the sea urchin fishery. (2) One diver member shall be elected from each of the following areas: (A) San Diego County. (B) Orange or Los Angeles County. (C) Ventura County. (D) Santa Barbara County. (E) Sonoma or Mendocino County. (3) Persons nominated for election to the commission as a diver member shall be nominated by a petition signed by not less than five divers eligible to vote pursuant to this chapter. (c) The public member shall be appointed to the commission by the secretary from nominees recommended by the commission. (d) The secretary and other appropriate individuals, as determined by the commission, shall be nonvoting members of the commission. (e) If the secretary finds, pursuant to Section 79103, that either the divers or handlers, but not both, have voted in favor of the referendum, the number of commission voting members shall be six, composed of either five divers or five handlers, depending on which portion of the industry voted in favor of the referendum, elected pursuant to this section and one public member. (f) If the composition of the commission is determined by subdivision (e) it shall also include at least one nonvoting member appointed by the commission representing either divers or handlers, whichever did not vote in favor of the referendum.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79041. Section 79041.

(a) The secretary may require the commission to correct or cease any existing activity or function that is determined by the secretary not to be in the public interest or that is in violation of this chapter. (b) If the commission refuses or fails to cease those activities or functions or to make the corrections as required by the secretary, the secretary may, upon written notice, suspend all or a portion of the activities or functions of the commission until the time that the cessation or correction of activities or functions as required by the secretary has been accomplished by the commission. (c) Actions of the commission in violation of the written notice are without legal force or effect. The secretary, to the extent feasible, shall issue the written notice prior to the commission entering into any contractual relationship affecting the existing or proposed activities or functions that are the subject of the written notice. (d) Upon service of the written notice, the secretary shall notify the commission in writing of the specific acts that the secretary determines are not in the public interest or are in violation of this chapter, his or her reasons for requiring a cessation or correction of specific existing or proposed activities or functions, and recommendations that will make the activities or functions acceptable.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79042. Section 79042.

The commission or the secretary may bring an action for judicial relief from the secretary’s written notice, or from noncompliance by the commission with the written notice, as the case may be, in a court of competent jurisdiction, which may issue a temporary restraining order, permanent injunction, or other applicable relief.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79043. Section 79043.

When the secretary is required to concur in a decision of the commission, the secretary shall give his or her response to the commission within 15 working days from notification of the decision. The secretary’s response may be a requirement that additional information be provided.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79044. Section 79044.

The commission shall reimburse the secretary for all expenditures incurred by the secretary in carrying out his or her duties and responsibilities pursuant to this chapter. However, a court may, if it finds that the secretary acted arbitrarily or capriciously in restricting the activities or functions of the commission, relieve the commission of the responsibility for payment of the secretary’s legal costs with regard to that action.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79045. Section 79045.

Except for nonvoting members, alternates for regular members may be elected in the same manner as members. An alternate shall, in the absence of the member for whom he or she is substituting, serve in place of a member and shall have and be able to exercise all the rights, privileges, and powers of a member when serving on the commission. In the event of a change in status making a member ineligible to serve, or due to death, removal, resignation, or disqualification of a member, an alternate shall act as a member of the commission until a qualified successor is elected or appointed.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79046. Section 79046.

Any vacancy on the commission occurring by the failure of any person elected to the commission as a member or alternate to continue in his or her position due to a change in status making him or her ineligible to serve, or due to death, removal or resignation, shall be filled by another eligible person for the unexpired portion of the term by a majority vote of the remaining members of the commission. The person shall fulfill all the qualifications set forth in this article as required for the person whose office he or she is to occupy.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79047. Section 79047.

Any vacancy on the commission occurring by the failure of the public member to continue in his or her position due to a change in status making him or her ineligible to serve, or due to death, removal, resignation, or disqualification, shall be filled by another eligible person for the unexpired portion of the term by the secretary from nominees recommended by the commission. The person shall fulfill all the qualifications set forth in this article as required for the member whose office he or she is to occupy.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79048. Section 79048.

(a) (1) Any handler member and his or her alternate on the commission shall be an individual handler or an employee or representative of one or more handlers who have an ownership interest in a handling facility or who can document a substantial financial interest in processing or causing to be processed sea urchin for market. (2) Qualifications of handler members and their alternates shall be maintained during their entire term of office. (b) Any handler member or his or her alternate shall not have been convicted within the two years prior to election to the commission of a violation of any law related to the business of commercially handling any fish or seafood products, not including any technical reporting or paperwork violation.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79049. Section 79049.

(a) Any diver member and his or her alternate on the commission shall be an individual diver who has documented landings of sea urchin in the previous commercial fishing license year. Qualifications of diver members and their alternates shall be maintained during their entire term of office. (b) Any diver member or his or her alternate shall not have been convicted within the two years prior to election to the commission of a violation of any law related to commercial fishing, not including any technical reporting or paperwork violation.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79050. Section 79050.

The public member and his or her alternate member on the commission shall have all the powers, rights, and privileges of any other member or alternate, respectively, on the commission. The public member and his or her alternate member shall not have any financial interest in the sea urchin fishery.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79051. Section 79051.

(a) The term of office of all members and alternates on the commission, except nonvoting members, shall be two years from the beginning of the fishery season in the year of their election and may serve not more than two consecutive terms. Following the final term, a member may serve up to 12 months or until a qualified successor is elected, whichever occurs first. (b) A member or alternate who has served the maximum number of sequential years authorized by this section shall be again eligible for election to the commission following a period of not less than 12 months during which he or she has not served as either a member or an alternate.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79052. Section 79052.

The commission shall be, and is hereby declared and created, a corporate body. It shall have the power to sue and be sued, to contract and be contracted with, and to have and possess all of the powers of a corporation. It may adopt a corporate seal. Copies of its proceedings, records, and acts, when authenticated, shall be prima facie evidence of the truth of all statements therein.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79053. Section 79053.

A quorum of the commission shall be six voting members, including at least two handlers and two divers. Except as provided in Section 79143, the vote of a majority of members present at a meeting at which there is a quorum shall constitute the act of the commission.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79054. Section 79054.

The secretary or his or her representative shall be notified and may attend each meeting of the commission and any committee meetings of the commission. However, the secretary or his or her representative is not entitled to attend an executive session of the commission or a committee of the commission called for the purpose of discussing potential or actual litigation against the department.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79055. Section 79055.

No member or alternate of the commission or member of a committee established by the commission who is a nonmember of the commission shall receive a salary. Each member of the commission and each alternate serving in place of a member, except nonvoting members who are officers or employees of a public agency, and each member of a committee established by the commission who is a nonmember of the commission, may receive reasonable and necessary traveling expenses and meal allowances as approved by the commission for each day spent in actual attendance at, or in traveling to and from, meetings of the commission or committees of the commission, or on special assignment for the commission.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79056. Section 79056.

(a) All funds received by the commission or an agent of the commission from the assessments levied under this chapter or otherwise received by the commission shall be deposited in accounts that the commission may designate and the secretary shall approve. Commission funds shall by expended for the purposes of this chapter only and shall be disbursed by order of the commission through an agent or agents as it may designate for that purpose. The agent or agents shall be bonded by a fidelity bond, executed by a surety company authorized to transact business in this state, in favor of the commission, in an amount of not less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). (b) Funds that exceed the amount of funds necessary for the annual operations of the commission and a prudent reserve may be invested by the commission in any of the securities authorized in Section 16430 of the Government Code.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 79057. Section 79057.

The state is not liable for the acts of the commission or its contracts. Payments of all claims arising by reason of the administration of this chapter or acts of the commission are limited to the funds collected by the commission. No member or alternate of the commission, or any employee or agent thereof, is personally liable for the contracts of the commission. No member or alternate of the commission, or any employee or agent thereof, is responsible individually in any way to any other person for errors in judgment, mistakes, or other acts, either of commission or omission, as principal, agent, or employee, except for his or her own individual acts of dishonesty or crime. No member or alternate of the commission, or any employee or agent thereof, is responsible individually for any act or omission of any other member or alternate of the commission, or any employee or agent thereof. Liability is several and not joint, and no member or alternate of the commission, or any employee or agent thereof, is liable for the default of any other member or alternate of the commission, or any employee or agent thereof.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026