ARTICLE 3.5. Commercial Salmon Trollers Enhancement and Restoration Program [7860. - 7863.]

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC 3.5.

in effect

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 7860. Section 7860.

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (f) or (g), no person who is 18 years of age or more and less than 70 years of age, on or before April 1 of the current license year, shall take salmon for commercial purposes or be on board a vessel on which salmon are taken for commercial purposes while salmon are being taken or transported unless that person has a commercial fishing salmon stamp issued pursuant to this section affixed to his or her commercial fishing license. (b) Except as provided in subdivision (f) or (g), the operator of a vessel on which salmon are taken for commercial purposes shall not permit a person on board that vessel while salmon are being taken or transported unless that person was less than 18 years of age or 70 years of age or more on April 1 of the current license year or that person has a commercial fishing salmon stamp affixed to the person’s commercial fishing license. (c) Except as provided in this subdivision, the department shall issue a commercial fishing salmon stamp upon application therefor and payment of the fee of eighty-five dollars ($85). For any commercial salmon season preceded by a commercial salmon season in which the commercial troll salmon landings in this state equal or exceed 3,000,000 pounds dressed weight, as determined by the department, the fee shall be increased by twelve dollars and fifty cents ($12.50) for every 250,000 pounds over 3,000,000 pounds of dressed weight landings, except that the total fees as adjusted shall not exceed two hundred sixty dollars ($260). (d) A commercial fishing salmon stamp is valid during the commercial salmon season of the year in which it was issued. (e) Upon application and payment of an additional fee equal to that prescribed in subdivision (c), the department may issue an additional commercial fishing salmon stamp for a crewmember to the owner or operator of a vessel who holds a commercial fishing salmon stamp. (f) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), one crewmember of a vessel for which a commercial fishing salmon stamp is issued pursuant to subdivision (e) may be aboard that vessel and take salmon for commercial purposes as a crewmember on that vessel without obtaining a commercial fishing salmon stamp under the following conditions: (1) The crewmember is designated by name and commercial fishing license number on a form furnished by the department before salmon are taken on the vessel when that crewmember is aboard. (2) The crewmember has a valid commercial fishing license issued under Section 7850. (3) The commercial fishing salmon stamp for the crewmember is affixed to the form prescribed in paragraph (1) on which the vessel registration number of the vessel is entered and on which the crewmember who is exempted by this subdivision is designated by the last entered name and commercial fishing license number. (g) Persons who are exempt from the license requirements, or who are not required to be licensed, pursuant to Section 7850, are exempt from the requirements of this section.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 7861. Section 7861.

(a) After deducting the administrative costs for issuing the commercial fishing salmon stamps, the department shall deposit the fees received pursuant to Section 7860 in the Commercial Salmon Stamp Dedicated Subaccount, which is hereby established in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. The money in the subaccount shall be available to the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for new or expanded salmon restoration and enhancement programs in the state that will serve to increase ocean salmon landings. No money in this subaccount shall be used in lieu of other funds appropriated for salmon restoration and enhancement programs authorized by law on or before January 1, 1988. (b) (1) Thirty dollars ($30) of the fees collected for each commercial fishing salmon stamp issued shall be allocated by the department to be used for raising chinook salmon to a yearling size, at which size they shall be released into state waters. The amount of salmon stamp revenues expended for this purpose in any fiscal year shall not exceed the amount expended by the department for the same purpose during the same period from other funds. The calculation of the amount expended by the department for this purpose shall not include expenditures made by the department for which reimbursements are received from state or federal agencies, public utilities, or private entities for raising chinook salmon to yearling size as part of a fish mitigation program instituted to compensate for the adverse effect of a dam on natural salmon production. If the department expends no funds other than moneys collected from the sale of commercial fishing salmon stamps or moneys for which reimbursements are received as part of an anadromous fish mitigation program for the raising of chinook salmon to yearling size within the period of a fiscal year, the fees prescribed in Section 7860 shall be reduced by an amount equivalent to that portion of the commercial fishing salmon stamp program, as specified in this subdivision. (2) If the salmon stamps issued pursuant to Section 7860 raise more money for the purpose of this subdivision than is necessary to match the funds expended by the department during any fiscal year from other funds, then the excess salmon stamp revenue allocated pursuant to this subdivision shall be carried over into the following fiscal year. (c) The department shall post on its Internet Web site an accounting of the projects undertaken with funds from the Commercial Salmon Stamp Dedicated Subaccount and the costs incurred to administer the program. At a minimum, the Internet Web site shall list the project title, the applicant, a brief description of the project, the amount approved, and the status of the project. (d) Any moneys that were in the Commercial Salmon Stamp Account as of March 14, 2013, and that were retained in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund shall be transferred to the Commercial Salmon Stamp Dedicated Subaccount.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 7861.1. Section 7861.1.

Not more than 15 percent of the funds expended pursuant to Section 7861 may be used to pay the costs incurred in the administration of the program.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 7861.2. Section 7861.2.

Notwithstanding any other law, the department may receive on behalf of the Commercial Salmon Trollers Enhancement and Restoration Program, for deposit in the Commercial Salmon Stamp Dedicated Subaccount in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund established pursuant to Section 7861, funds from sources in addition to funds derived from the sale of commercial fishing salmon stamps, including, but not limited to, grants from the federal government, grants from private foundations, money disbursed from court settlements, and donations and bequeaths from individuals. The additional nonfederal funds shall not be deposited in the Commercial Salmon Stamp Dedicated Subaccount unless the person or entity providing the funds specifically designates in writing, prior to or at the time of transmittal of the funds to the department, that the funds are intended solely for deposit to that subaccount. Funds received by the department that are not designated at the time of receipt as being intended solely for deposit to the Commercial Salmon Stamp Dedicated Subaccount shall be deposited in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 7861.3. Section 7861.3.

It is the intent of the Legislature that the department use the moneys from the sale of commercial fishing salmon stamps allocated pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 7861 and the matching share contributed by the department to raise approximately two million chinook salmon annually to yearling size to contribute to the replenishing of California’s salmon resource. In no case shall moneys from the General Fund be used to match the salmon stamp revenues expended for this program. It is the further intent of the Legislature that the salmon stamp fee authorized in subdivision (b) of Section 7861 shall generate revenues equal to one-half the amount necessary to raise this number of salmon to yearling size.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 7861.4. Section 7861.4.

A priority for funding shall be given to programs and projects restoring, enhancing, and protecting salmon streams with funds appropriated pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of Section 5907 of the Public Resources Code, that employ fishermen who are unemployed or underemployed as a result of commercial fishing restrictions within and immediately adjacent to the Klamath Management Zone imposed by federal laws or regulations.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 7861.5. Section 7861.5.

In consultation with the Commercial Salmon Trollers Advisory Committee, the department may allocate funds from the Commercial Salmon Stamp Dedicated Subaccount in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund for the following purposes: (a) For restoration projects to assist in the recovery of salmon stocks listed as threatened or endangered under Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3, or the federal Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.). (b) As matching funds for federal salmon restoration moneys.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 7862. Section 7862.

A Commercial Salmon Trollers Advisory Committee shall be established consisting of six members selected by the director. One member shall be chosen from the personnel of the department. Four persons shall be selected, with alternates, from a list submitted by a fishermen’s organization deemed to represent the commercial salmon fishermen of California. One member shall be selected, with an alternate, from lists submitted by individual commercial passenger fishing boat operators or by organizations deemed to represent the commercial passenger fishing boat operators of California. The term of appointment to the committee shall be for two years. Necessary and proper expenses, if any, and per diem shall be paid committee members from the special account created pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 7861. The rate of per diem shall be the same as the rate established pursuant to Section 8902 of the Government Code. The committee shall recommend programs and a budget from the special account to the department.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 7862.5. Section 7862.5.

(a) The Commercial Salmon Trollers Advisory Committee established under Section 7862 may recommend to the director that a nonprofit organization or the California Salmon Council be authorized to create or contract to create salmon or salmon fishing artwork and other materials based on that artwork, including, but not limited to, a stamp, and offer those items for sale to the public during 2003 and thereafter, for the purpose of augmenting funding for the Commercial Salmon Trollers Enhancement and Restoration Program established under this article. (b) The committee may not recommend a nonprofit organization or the California Salmon Council as authorized under subdivision (a), unless all of the following conditions are met: (1) The proposed creation and sale of the artwork is pursuant to a written business plan presented to the committee. (2) The committee determines that a reasonable share of the sales of any stamp will be remitted to the department for deposit into the Commercial Salmon Stamp Dedicated Subaccount established in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund under Section 7861. (3) The committee determines that the creation and sale of the artwork will act to increase public awareness and support for the salmon stamp program and the restoration of salmon and their habitats in the state. (4) Any other conditions deemed necessary by the committee for determining whether to recommend approval to the director have been met. (c) The director, upon receiving the recommendation of the committee, and upon finding that there will be no new costs to the department, may authorize the recommended entity to create or contract to create salmon or salmon fishing artwork and other materials based on that artwork, including, but not limited to, a stamp, and offer those items for sale to the public, for the purpose described in subdivision (a). (d) No person or entity, including, but not limited to, any nonprofit organization, may use the name of the Commercial Salmon Stamp, the Commercial Salmon Trollers Advisory Committee, or the Commercial Salmon Trollers Enhancement and Restoration Program for the sale of artwork and other materials, unless that person or entity has been approved by the director under this section for that purpose. The approval of the director under this section shall be for one year, after which the approval may be renewed for an additional year, upon recommendation of the committee. (e) No artwork sold in the form of a stamp under this section conveys to the purchaser any entitlement to engage in the commercial salmon fishery. (f) Proceeds from the sales of artwork and other materials sold under this section, after deduction of all reasonable costs borne by the nonprofit organization or California Salmon Council for creation of the artwork and conducting the sales, shall be deposited in the Commercial Salmon Stamp Dedicated Subaccount.

Cal. Fish and Game Code - FGC § 7863. Section 7863.

This article shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2029, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2029, deletes or extends that date.

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