1000-1019
FISH AND GAME CODE
SECTION 1000-1019
1000. The department shall expend such funds as may be necessary for biological research and field investigation and for the collection and diffusion of such statistics and information as shall pertain to the conservation, propagation, protection, and perpetuation of birds and the nests and eggs thereof, and of mammals, reptiles, and fish. 1000.6. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) The commercial fishing industry of the North Coast has been greatly affected by decisions made by federal and state agencies concerning the health of the salmon resource and the consequent shortening or closing of the season, further impacting the already economically depressed region. (2) Sportfishing on the North Coast, a staple of the tourism industry of the region, could be substantially affected by the limitations of the salmon seasons. (3) The method of determining salmon escapement counts on only the Klamath River is inadequate for determining the overall health of the salmon resource in northern California waters and consequent decisions regarding the commercial, sport, and Indian salmon fisheries in those waters because it does not take into consideration the escapement figures on the Eel River and the Smith River. (b) The department shall use present assessment methods to assess the salmon escapement count on the Eel River and the Smith River, as well as the Klamath River, systems, employing out-of-work fishermen, where possible, to do the counts with department personnel in supervisory capacities. Those figures shall be used by the commission and the department in all reports, recommendations, and decisions concerning the establishment of the commercial and sportfishing seasons in the state waters and in all recommendations to the Pacific Fishery Management Council or other regulatory agencies. This program shall be a priority for funding under the Fisheries Restoration Act of 1985 (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 2760) added to Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code by Senate Bill No. 400 of the 1985-86 Regular Session). (c) The department shall install sonar fish counting devices on the Klamath River system as a three-year test program to determine the accuracy of the devices, and shall make recommendations to the Legislature by January 1, 1990, as to their accuracy and whether they should be installed on other river systems. Present assessment methods shall continue on the Klamath River system during the test period as a control mechanism. 1001. Nothing in this code or any other law shall prohibit the department from taking, for scientific, propagation, public health or safety, prevention or relief of suffering, or law enforcement purposes, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds, and the nests and eggs thereof, or any other form of plant or animal life. 1002. (a) The department may issue permits, subject to restrictions and regulations that the commission determines are desirable, to take or possess, in any part of the state, for scientific, educational, or propagation purposes, mammals, birds and the nests and eggs thereof, fish, amphibia, reptiles, or any other form of plant or animal life. (b) The department may issue a permit that is valid for 24 months from the date of issuance to a resident of this state on the payment of a base fee of thirty dollars ($30), as adjusted under Section 713. (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the department may issue a permit without fee that is valid for 12 months from the date of issuance for either of the following purposes: (1) To authorize only the banding of birds and the exhibition of live or dead wildlife specimens by public zoological gardens, scientific, or educational institutions. (2) To a student who is regularly enrolled in a commercial fishing class in a school operating under the jurisdiction of the State Board of Education or in a commercial fishing class in a community college and to a faculty member of those schools or a community college when conducting a regularly enrolled class in commercial fishing. Any permit issued under this paragraph shall be valid only when the student is under the direct supervision of the instructor who is approved by the school or community college to teach the class and who has obtained a permit under subdivision (b) or this paragraph from the department. All fish taken shall be taken in accordance with state law, except that Sections 7850, 7880, and 7881 do not apply to persons or equipment operating under this paragraph. All fish taken under a permit issued under this paragraph may be sold only to a person licensed to receive fish from commercial fishermen as provided in Section 8032 or 8033 or donated to a charitable institution. All funds received from the sale of the fish shall be used solely for the support of the commercial fishing classes. (d) The department may issue a special student permit that is valid for 12 months from the date of issuance on the payment of a base fee of ten dollars ($10), as adjusted under Section 713, to any student in a school of collegiate level who is required by an instructor in wildlife research in the school to collect specimens used in laboratory work in the school under supervision and in connection with a course in wildlife research or in the conduct of wildlife investigations and studies on behalf of the public. (e) The department may issue a nonresident permit that is valid for 24 months from the date of issuance on application and payment of a base fee of one hundred dollars ($100) as adjusted under Section 713. (f) It is not necessary for the possessor of the permit to have a sportfishing or hunting license to collect any fish, reptile, aquatic animal or plant, bird, or mammal for scientific, educational, or propagation purposes in this state. (g) Nothing in this section authorizes any act which violates Section 597 of the Penal Code. (h) A permit under this section does not authorize the taking of fish or mammals from the ocean waters of this state which are within the boundaries of any city if the city has filed with the department an objection to the taking. (i) The adjustment of the base fees pursuant to Section 713 that is specified in subdivisions (b), (d), and (e) shall be applicable to permits issued on or after January 1, 1991. 1002.5. (a) The department may issue a permit for scientific purposes pursuant to Section 1002 to a California-certified small business, an aquarium accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, or other appropriate institution, as determined by the department, in the name of a principal scientific investigator or the permitted entity. (b) The department may approve individual temporary employees or volunteers to work under the permit, after receiving notification from the permittee. The permittee shall have adequate supervision over any temporary employees or volunteers approved to work under the permit. (c) A permittee that allows a temporary employee or volunteer to work under a permit without approval from the department in accordance with this section is subject to Section 12000. (d) The department shall charge a fee pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 1002 for the issuance of a permit authorized by this section. If the department determines that the costs to issue a permit authorized by this section are greater than the costs to issue a permit pursuant to Section 1002, the department may charge a permit fee in an amount that is greater than the amount imposed by subdivision (b) of Section 1002 to recover those additional costs. (e) The department may amend a permit issued under this section, including, but not limited to, the addition or removal of individual temporary employees or volunteers working under the permit, on the payment of a base fee of sixty dollars ($60), as adjusted under Section 713. 1003. Mammals, birds, and the nest and eggs thereof, fish and eggs thereof, reptiles, mollusks, crustaceans, or any other form of plant or animal life taken under the provisions of such a scientific or propagation permit may be shipped or transported anywhere within or without the state if prior written approval is obtained from the department and each such shipment is accompanied by the name, address, and permit number of the person holding the scientific or propagation permit. 1004. The department may capture and sell birds and mammals, at prices to be fixed by the commission, to persons engaged in the domestication and sale thereof in this State. 1005. For the purpose of exhibiting fish and game educational material at fairs or sportsmen's shows and making other public displays, and to make conservation educational materials on fish and game available for any public use, including fairs, sportsmen's shows, schools, and civic organizations, the department may: (a) Accept on behalf of the State donations of money and services from any person to defray such expenses as may be incurred by the department in connection therewith. (b) Charge admissions or make a charge for the use of any departmental material or exhibits to be used in a fair, sportsmen's show, or by a civic organization. 1005.5. Notwithstanding Section 11005 of the Government Code, the department may accept gifts of personal property if the donor is a county of the state and the gift is purchased with fine money derived from fish and game violations. The department shall notify the Department of Finance 30 days in advance of accepting these gifts. 1006. The department may inspect the following: (a) All boats, markets, stores and other buildings, except dwellings, and all receptacles, except the clothing actually worn by a person at the time of inspection, where birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, or amphibia may be stored, placed, or held for sale or storage. (b) All boxes and packages containing birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, or amphibia which are held for transportation by any common carrier. 1007. The department may import, propagate, and distribute birds, mammals, or fish. 1008. The department shall investigate all diseases of, and problems relating to, birds, mammals, or fish, and establish and maintain laboratories to assist in such investigation. 1009. The department may obtain for the State rights of way over private lands for the purpose of furnishing access for the public to lands or waters open to public hunting or fishing whenever such rights of way are determined by the commission to be necessary for such public use. Such rights of way shall not be acquired by eminent domain proceedings. The department may construct or cause to be constructed such fences, signs, and other structures as are necessary for the protection of any such right of way, and the cost of the construction shall be met out of the funds available to the department. 1010. The department, by and with the approval of the Department of General Services, may sell grazing permits or otherwise dispose of excess vegetation or other products, produced on lands acquired by the department. 1011. (a) The department may procure insurance for any of the following purposes: (1) For itself and landowners who agree to permit the department to use their land as cooperative hunting, fishing, conservation or recreational areas, against any liability resulting from the operation of those hunting, fishing, conservation or recreational areas. (2) For its employees or other persons authorized by the department to conduct hunter education training courses against any public liability or property damage resulting from that training. (b) The cost of insurance procured pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be a proper charge against and shall be paid out of the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. 1012. The department may procure insurance for its employees for injury or death against the liability of the owner or operator of any vessel boarded by an employee as an observer. 1013. In any lease, easement, or right-of-way entered into whereby the department leases real property or obtains a grant of easement or right-of-way in real property for the purpose of constructing, operating, or maintaining a fish screen, fish ladder, fishweir, or fishtrap, the department may agree to indemnify and hold harmless the lessor or grantor by reason of the uses authorized by such lease, easement, or right-of-way. Insurance may be purchased by the Department of General Services to protect the department against loss or expense arising out of such a lease, easement, or right-of-way. 1014. In the event the Department of Parks and Recreation contracts with the federal government pursuant to Public Law 89-161 for the administration of recreation development or fish and wildlife enhancement facilities, as authorized by Section 5006.6 of the Public Resources Code, the Department of Fish and Game is authorized to operate, maintain and replace those facilities designated as fish and wildlife enhancement facilities and to assume all costs of such operation, maintenance and replacement, subject to appropriation of funds by the Legislature. 1015. Whenever the department is required, or provided an opportunity, to assess the adequacy of a project or to provide a detailed environmental impact statement or similar document pursuant to Public Law 91-190 or Section 21100, 21101, or 21102 of the Public Resources Code, or any other provision of law, it shall determine the extent to which salmon and steelhead resources will be protected from damage by the project in question, together with the extent to which the agency or person preparing the plans for such project has incorporated therein plans for increasing the salmon or steelhead resources of this state. To the fullest practicable extent, the department shall advise the commission at one of its regular scheduled meetings of the state's comments on the project. In no event shall more than one regular commission meeting transpire between the time the department renders comments to the requesting person or agency and the time it reports its findings to the commission. 1016. (a) Whenever the department determines that an oil sump, as defined by Section 3780 of the Public Resources Code, is hazardous to wildlife, but does not constitute an immediate and grave danger to wildlife, the department shall forthwith notify the State Oil and Gas Supervisor of such condition in order that he may take action pursuant to Section 3783 of the Public Resources Code to have such condition cleaned up or abated. The department in making such notification shall specify the hazardous conditions. (b) Whenever the department determines that an oil sump, as defined by Section 3780 of the Public Resources Code, constitutes an immediate and grave danger to wildlife, the department shall forthwith notify the State Oil and Gas Supervisor of such condition in order that he may take action pursuant to Section 3784 of the Public Resources Code to have such condition cleaned up or abated. The department, in making such notification, shall specify the immediate and grave danger. (c) The commission shall promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary to implement the provisions of this section, including a reasonable definition of the term "hazardous" for the purposes of this section. It is the intent of the Legislature that the department adopt, as a part of such rules and regulations, a definition of the term "wildlife," as herein employed, which will provide for reasonable exclusions consistent with effectuating the wildlife protection purposes of this section. (d) No provision of this section shall be construed as a limitation on the authority or responsibilities of the department with respect to the enforcement or administration of any provision of state law which it is authorized or required to enforce or administer. 1017. (a) It is the policy of the state to anticipate and resolve potential conflicts between the management, conservation, and protection of fish and wildlife resources and their habitat and private and public activities that may affect them. (b) Accordingly, the department may use such informal consultative procedures prior to taking any formal action as will assist in the achievement of this policy. (c) Any costs incurred by the department in engaging in informal consultative procedures, including, but not limited to, fees charged by any neutral party acting in the capacity of a mediator, discussion facilitator, or convener, are a proper charge against any funds lawfully available to the department for this purpose. (d) The authority conferred by this section is not intended, and shall not be construed, to increase, decrease, duplicate, or supersede any other authority of the department or the commission under this code or any other provision of law. (e) As used in this section, "formal action" means the adoption, amendment, or repeal of any rule, regulation, or order; entering into, amending, or canceling an agreement; and the issuance, suspension, or revocation of any permit, license, or other entitlement. 1018. The director shall use the department's resources, to the fullest extent feasible, to coordinate with the federal government to promote the preservation of species, including species listed as endangered species or threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.) and the California Endangered Species Act, Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3, and their habitats within the locale of Isabella Dam and Reservoir in Kern County in order to facilitate the continued operation of those facilities for flood control and water conservation storage as authorized by Congress and as provided in an agreement, dated October 23, 1964, among the United States and various local public agencies. Nothing in this section is intended to amend, modify, or alter in any manner the intent of the California Endangered Species Act. 1019. (a) Subject to an appropriation of funds by the Legislature for that purpose, for parcels wholly within its jurisdiction acquired on or after January 1, 2002, the department shall prepare draft management plans for public review within 18 months of the recordation date. (b) (1) On or before February 1 of each year, the department shall submit a list of lands acquired during the previous two fiscal years and the status of the management plans for each acquisition to the fiscal committees of each house of the Legislature. (2) Each fiscal committee in the Legislature shall consider the lists described in paragraph (1) in its budget decisions for the department.