Whale Protection & Crab Gear Retrieval Act, SB 1287, heads to Governor Browns desk
North Coast Senator Mike McGuire’s legislation that will help permanently protect whales by removing lost and abandoned crab fishing gear from the ocean has been approved by both houses of the State Legislature and will now head to Governor Brown’s desk. SB 1287 received widespread and overwhelming support in the Senate and was approved Thursday by a vote of the full State Assembly. “We need this legislation, now more than ever. Whale entanglement numbers are skyrocketing off the California coast and we’re bringing together crabbers and environmentalists to get this common sense bill signed into law,” Senator Mike McGuire said. The Whale Protection & Crab Gear Retrieval Act, which was proactively initiated by the thousands of hard working men and women who make up California’s mighty crab fleet, would create a regulatory program with incentives for fishermen to retrieve Dungeness crab fishing gear that would otherwise be lost in the ocean. It’s estimated that thousands of pots are lost every season and these pieces of gear could have hundreds of feet of rope attached to a locater buoy. Read the rest here 16:04
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