Marine Connection welcomes the news that the California Senate recently passed animal welfare bill, SB 1017. The legislation which passed in a unanimous 33-0 vote now moves to the Assembly. If passed again, it will move on to the governor’s office to be signed into a law that would transition California away from the use of large-scale driftnets, encouraging fishermen to pursue “more sustainable gear types” than drift nets.
The cost of a permit would increase from $435 to $3,000 and increase fisheries observer coverage to 100% on driftnet boats. Large pelagic drift nets are already banned in Oregon, Washington, the Atlantic Coast, Hawaii, Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico because of the unavoidable impacts to marine wildlife, including whales, dolphins, seals and seabirds. Ironically many California species killed by the drift gillnet fishery are protected under state and federal law or covered under international agreements, such as the sperm whale. The dead and dying animals are often simply thrown overboard after being entangled in the deadly nets which can stretch up to one mile in length and hang 100 feet deep – hanging vertically in the water, they’re designed to kill everything in their path. The California driftnet fishery currently consists of 20 boats and although deceptively small in size, the fishery has an enormous negative impact.
