Existing law requires every person 16 years of age or older who takes any fish, reptile, or amphibian for any purpose other than profit to first obtain a sport fishing license for that purpose, with specified exceptions, and to have that license on his or her person or in his or her immediate possession when engaged in carrying out any activity authorized by the license. Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue an annual sport fishing license to a resident or nonresident upon payment of the applicable fee. Under existing law, the annual sport fishing license is valid for the period of a calendar year, or, if issued after the beginning of the year, for the remainder of the year.

This bill would require the department, on or before February 1, 2019, 2020, to convene a hunting and sport fishing industry group, to be known as the R3 Group, with R3 standing for Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation. Under the bill, the purpose of the R3 Group would be to collaborate with the department to identify barriers to hunting and sport fishing that contribute to the decline in sales of hunting and sport fishing licenses. The bill would specify the membership of the R3 Group and provide for the R3 Group to identify the above-described barriers to hunting and sport fishing, develop and approve recommendations for removal of those barriers, and submit to the Legislature, as provided, a report containing the approved recommendations.

Existing law requires every person 16 years of age or older who takes any fish, reptile, or amphibian for any purpose other than profit to first obtain a sport fishing license for that purpose, with specified exceptions, and to have that license on his or her person or in his or her immediate possession when engaged in carrying out any activity authorized by the license. Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue an annual sport fishing license to a resident or nonresident upon payment of the applicable fee. Under existing law, the annual sport fishing license is valid for the period of a calendar year, or, if issued after the beginning of the year, for the remainder of the year.

This bill would require the department, on or before February 1, 2019, to convene a sport fishing industry group, to be known as the R3 Group, with R3 standing for Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation. Under the bill, the purpose of the R3 Group would be to collaborate with the department to identify barriers to sport fishing that contribute to the decline in sales of sport fishing licenses. The bill would specify the membership of the R3 Group and provide for the R3 Group to identify the above-described barriers to sport fishing, develop and approve recommendations for removal of those barriers, and submit to the Legislature, as provided, a report containing the approved recommendations.

Existing law requires every person 16 years of age or older who takes any fish, reptile, or amphibian for any purpose other than profit to first obtain a sport fishing license for that purpose, with specified exceptions, and to have that license on his or her person or in his or her immediate possession when engaged in carrying out any activity authorized by the license. Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue an annual sport fishing license to a resident or nonresident upon payment of the applicable fee. Under existing law, the annual sport fishing license is valid for the period of a calendar year, or, if issued after the beginning of the year, for the remainder of the year.

This bill would require the department, on or before February 1, 2019, to convene a sport fishing industry group, to be known as the R3 Group, with R3 standing for Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation. Under the bill, the purpose of the R3 Group would be to collaborate with the department to identify barriers to sport fishing that contribute to the decline in sales of sport fishing licenses. The bill would specify the membership of the R3 Group and provide for the R3 Group to identify the above-described barriers to sport fishing, develop and approve recommendations for removal of those barriers, and submit to the Legislature, as provided, a report containing the approved recommendations.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator Anthony Portantino, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular Session

AB 2465 (Gallagher) - Hunting and sport fishing licenses: decline in sales: advisory group

This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.

Bill Summary:

This bill would require the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to convene the “R3 Group” (standing for “Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation”) on or before February 1, 2019, to collaborate with DFW to identify the barriers that contribute to the decline in the sales of sport fishing licenses.

Fiscal Impact:

$323,000 General Fund (3 positions) in 2018-19 and $573,000 General

Fund in 2019-20 to coordinate and plan the advisory group's meetings, facilitate recommendations that encompass each of the Department's programs, and develop the report required to be submitted to the Legislature.

Background: The number of fishing licenses have been on a steady decline in California since the early 1980s when approximately 2.8 million licenses were being sold annually. In that timeframe, fees have steadily increased for fishing licenses and the result is that DFW has not seen a significant reduction in revenue but individuals purchasing sport fishing licenses are paying more. DFW typically receives $60-65 million annually that is deposited into the Fish and Game Fund.

Proposed Law: This bill would require the DFW) to convene the R3 Group on or before February 1, 2019, to collaborate with DFW to identify the barriers that contribute to the decline in the sales of sport fishing licenses. Additionally, this bill would:

1. Prohibits the members of the R3 Group from receiving compensation and specifies membership shall include the DFW director and sport fishing industry stakeholders.
2. Establishes a process taking no longer than 120 days for the R3 Group to identify barriers to sport fishing, develop and approve recommendations for removing identified barriers and report those recommendations to the Legislature.
3. Requires the R3 Group to consider specified best practices for angler R3 program evaluations when making recommendations.

Staff Comments:

The Fish and Game Preservation Fund currently has a structural imbalance with expenditures exceeding revenues. The 2018 Budget Act provides resources to sustain the Department through 2020-21, however, more permanent measures must be implemented to address the deficit. This bill could exacerbate the current deficit and require a more durable solution to be developed.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER

Senator Robert Hertzberg, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular

Bill No: AB 2465 Hearing Date: June 26, 2018

Subject: Sport fishing licenses: decline in sales: advisory group

BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW

Existing law requires every person 16 years of age and older to first purchase and be able to present a sport fishing license before taking any fish, reptile, or amphibian for any purpose other than profit.

Existing law requires the department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to issue an annual sport fishing license to a resident or nonresident upon payment of the applicable fee. The base fee for a resident is $31.25, and for a nonresident is $84. The base fees were placed in statute in 2004 and are adjusted annually based on inflation. The current license fee with annual adjustments for resident adult sport fishing license is $48.34, and for a nonresident is $130.42.

Sport fishing license sales in California peaked in the early 1980’s with approximately 2.5 million licenses being issued in a single year, and have since declined over time. In 2017, there were approximately 1.8 million licenses issued. These data are for total sales across all license categories. Annual resident license sales, the category with the largest number of sales, declined by about half – from 2 million to 1 million – over that same time period. The decline in fishing license sales in California is reflective of a broader national trend.

In national reviews the barriers to sport fishing have been identified as a lack of access, lack of awareness, lack of skills, lack of motivation, and lack of effective angler recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) efforts. R3 has been widely recognized as the most effective means for increasing participation in fishing. The DFW currently provides several R3 angler efforts including free fishing days, Fishing in the City, Fishing Passport Program, Heritage Trout Challenge, Trout Fest events, the new Vamos A Pescar Grant Program, and direct email marketing. Additionally, the DFW has created an internal R3 Task Force of executive-level staff, hired a full-time R3 coordinator, is coordinating with sport fishing and hunting R3 stakeholders and is evaluating its current R3 programs.

PROPOSED LAW

This bill would:

1. Require the Department of Fish and Wildlife to convene a sport fishing industry group, to be known as the R3 Group on or before February 1, 2019.
   1. “R3” means recruitment, retention and reactivation (as defined above).
2. Require the membership of the R3 group to consist of the DFW director (director) and additional members appointed by the director including the president of the national Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation and additional stakeholders selected from a nominations list provided by representatives of the sport fishing industry, as specified.
3. Require the R3 Group to develop and approve recommendations to remove barriers to sport fishing that contribute to the decline to sport fishing within 90 days of meeting, and submit those recommendations to the Legislature within 30 days of their approval.

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT

According to the author, “R3 groups have been proven to be successful in increasing participation in outdoor activities that are an important part of our economy. Barriers to access such as high license costs have resulted in an unprecedented decline in recreational fishing. This has also resulted in a drastic decrease in funding for important fishery management and wildlife conservation programs that are funded through license sales.”

ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION

According to the Department of Finance, “this bill is unnecessary and incurs additional costs not included in the Governor’s Budget… the Department convened a broad coalition stakeholder group in the fall of 2017 to address issues like angler participation as well as a number of other issues…”

The bill requires the DFW to convene two R3 group meetings. Department of Finance notes that the anticipated fiscal impact of the bill would be $60,000.

COMMENTS

Allow more time to implement the bill? Given the change in administration, it may be prudent to allow the department more time to convene the R3 group. This will also allow the department time to acquire the necessary funding to successfully implement this bill. The committee may wish to delay R3 group meeting and reporting requirement until 2020. [Amendment 1]

Hunting faces a similar decline. Hunting has declined from roughly 600,000 purchases of annual licenses in 1970 to about 240,000 annual license sales in 2016. These declines occurred at the same time as California’s population approximately doubled. California is not unique in this regard, as hunting participation have also declined nationwide overall over this time period. Recent (2011) US Fish and Wildlife Service data showed an uptick in participation – a 9% increase in hunting nationally from 2006 – 2011. The preliminary 2016 report, however, shows that hunting participation from 2011- 2016 decreased by 16%. Given the similar situation faced by both hunting and fishing, the committee may wish to direct the R3 Group to also consider hunting when developing their recommendations [Amendment 1].

Who is considered a stakeholder? The bill would require the membership of the R3 group to consist of the director and additional members appointed by the director including the president of the national Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation and additional stakeholders. The bill specifies that the additional stakeholders are to be selected from a nominations list provided by representatives of the sport fishing industry. If the scope of the bill is expanded to also include hunting then the allowable potential stakeholders should be similarly expanded. The committee may wish to allow the director the authority to pick from a broader pool of stakeholders to ensure a balance of viewpoints. [Amendment 1]

Many competing R3 efforts. Given the decades-long decline in hunters and sport anglers, efforts have begun to try to reverse the decline. To date, these programs have had limited success. The DFW has provided the following:

“The department would like to note that it is currently establishing a recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) program, and has redirected existing resources, both financial and staff, to focus on producing a comprehensive hunting and fishing R3 action plan, in coordination with a broad spectrum of outdoor recreation stakeholders. The plan will identify barriers to participation in outdoor recreation, and potential solutions to those barriers. The department would prefer waiting until a comprehensive plan has been established to address the various issues contributing to the decline of hunting and fishing participation in California. Rather than try to solve the problem in a piecemeal fashion, it should be faced head-on in a comprehensive, methodical, research and data-driven manner, resulting in a suite of recommendations collaboratively developed by the department and the outdoor recreation community.”

“The department would like to note that there are currently six bills, including this one, going through the legislative process related to R3 (recruitment, retention and reactivation) that if implemented would all require staff hours for programming the Automated Licensing Data System. These bills individually have small impacts to the department but cumulatively would have an impact in staff hours and vendor contracts of up to 3.3 PYs and $965,000 for one fiscal year.”

Long-standing department funding concerns. Obtaining sufficient funding for all of the department’s mandates has been an ongoing concern for many years – in fact, decades. Last year, in its Fiscal Year 2017-2018 budget proposal, the Brown Administration identified a roughly $20 million structural annual budget deficit in the non-dedicated FGPF, the department’s largest single fund source that supports “a multitude of program activities.” The department has maintained program activities by using the non-dedicated FGPF balance and reducing expenditures. In general, sport fishing and hunting revenues are thought to currently cover the costs associated with the programs, although the data necessary to do a thorough assessment do not appear to be consistently collected. It remains unclear if the prevailing view is accurate. Last year’s budget proposal largely attributed the imbalance to expenses associated with commercial fishing and recommended, among other things, a 1300% increase in commercial landing fees. The Legislature approved a modified proposal that doubled the fees instead, and required the department to implement a zero-based budget by October 2017, among other things. In the FY 2018-2019 budget, the department sought more permanent stable funding from multiple sources, including the General Fund. The department indicated that it would seek to subsidize hunting and sport fishing license fees with these new revenue streams, and also acknowledges that the assessed fees for certain of its activities do not cover its costs. In the recently passed FY 2018-2019 budget, the Legislature instead provided a 3 year agreement including $29.6 million with an additional $2 million for the department to contract with an independent entity for a service-based budgeting review, consult on the development of a budget tracking system and fund a statewide department management team to participate in the process. Committee staff note that the zero-based budgeting effort required by last year’s budget appears to have stalled, and that neither the department or the commission appear to have fully implemented existing requirements to review existing fees to ensure appropriate cost recovery. Additional revenue and cost transparency should help to address stakeholder concerns that fees paid are supporting relevant and appropriate activities.

Related Legislation

SB 1311 (Berryhill, 2018) would require the department to offer combined sportsman’s licenses authorizing both sport fishing and hunting, as specified. (This bill is pending before the Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee.)

AB 2805 (Bigelow, 2018) would revise wild pig hunt requirements and fees. (This bill is pending before the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.)

AB 2670 (Kiley, 2018) would require the department to offer free hunting days annually to replace the department’s authorization to do so. (This bill was held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file.)

AB 986 (Gallagher, 2018) would require the department to offer reduced fee licenses and sport fishing validations for veterans, as specified, and offer a 12-consecutive month sport fishing license. (This bill is pending before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.)

AB 2151 (Gray 2018) would require a reduced fee of $20 for residents with a junior hunting license to obtain an antelope, elk, bear, or bighorn sheep tag. (This bill is pending before the Senate Appropriations Committee.)

SB 518 (Berryhill, 2017) would require the department to offer a 12-consecutive month fishing license. (This bill is pending before the Assembly Appropriations Committee.)

SB 187 (Berryhill, 2017) would require the department to offer a 12-consecutive month fishing license, as specified. (This bill was held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file.)

AB 521 (Frazier) would have provided for apprentice elk hunting license and reduced elk tag fees. (This bill failed before the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.)

SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS

AMENDMENT 1

The following amendments delay the R3 Group meeting until 2020, expand the scope of the bill to also include hunting, expand the pool of potential stakeholders that may be appointed by the director, and make additional technical changes.

7124.

(a) On or before February 1, 20192020, the department shall convene a sport fishing industry group, to be known as the R3 Group. “R3” shall stand for “Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation.” The purpose of the R3 Group shall be to collaborate with the department to identify barriers to hunting and sport fishing that contribute to the decline in sales of hunting and sport fishing licenses.

(b) The members of the R3 Group shall be as follows:

(1) The director, or the director’s designee(s).

(2) The following members appointed by the director:

(A) The president of the national Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, if the president chooses to participate, or the president’s designee.

(B) Other stakeholders in the including, but not limited to, representatives from the hunting, boating, outdoor shooting, and sport fishing industry industries, selected by the director from a nominations list provided by representatives of the sport fishing industry.

(c) Members of the R3 Group shall serve without compensation or reimbursement of expenses.

(d) (1) The R3 Group shall meet in February 20192020 to identify barriers to hunting and sport fishing described in subdivision (a).

(2) No later than 90 days after the meeting required pursuant to paragraph (1), the R3 Group shall meet to develop and approve recommendations for removing, when possible, the barriers identified pursuant to paragraph (1).

(3) In developing and approving the recommendations pursuant to paragraph (2), the R3 Group shall take into consideration best practices for the evaluation of angler recruitment, retention, and reactivation programs, including, but not limited to, both of the following:

(A) The evaluation framework described in Appendix C of the “Recommendations and Strategic Tools for Effective Angler Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation (R3) Efforts” published by the Aquatic Resources Education Association and the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation.

(B) The Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation’s “Best Practices Guide to Program Evaluation for Aquatic Educators.”

(e) (1) No later than 30 days after the R3 Group has approved recommendations pursuant to subdivision (d), the R3 Group shall submit to the Legislature, as provided in paragraph (2), a report containing the approved recommendations.

(2) The report required pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted to the chairperson and vice chairperson of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water, the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife, and the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SUPPORT

California Sportsfishing League (sponsor)

California Sportsman’s Lobby

California Trout

Outdoor Sportsmen’s Coalition of California

OPPOSITION

Department of Finance

-- END --

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 2465

Author:(Gallagher)

As Amended Ver:March 21, 2018

Majority vote

SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to convene the "R3 Group" (standing for "Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation") on or before February 1, 2019, to collaborate with DFW to identify the barriers that contribute to the decline in the sales of sport fishing licenses. Additionally, this bill:

1. Prohibits the members of the R3 Group from receiving compensation and specifies membership shall include the DFW director and sport fishing industry stakeholders.
2. Establishes a process taking no longer than 120 days for the R3 Group to identify barriers to sport fishing, develop and approve recommendations for removing identified barriers and report those recommendations to the Legislature.
3. Requires the R3 Group to consider specified best practices for angler R3 program evaluations when making recommendations.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Requires every person 16 years of age and older who takes any fish, reptile, or amphibian for any purpose other than profit to first purchase and be able to present a sport fishing license to fish. Makes available for purchase an annual sport fishing license valid for the January to December calendar year, a 10-day license for nonresidents only, a 2-day license and a 1-day license.
2. Requires a sport fishing license to be issued to a resident, 16 years of age or older, for a base fee of $31.25, and to a nonresident for a base fee of $84. The base fees were placed in statute in 2004 and are adjusted annually based on inflation. With annual adjustments, the current license fee for a resident adult sport fishing license is $48.34, and for nonresidents is $130.42.
3. Requires the Fish and Game Commission (FGC) to adjust the amount of fees, as necessary, to fully recover but not exceed, all reasonable administrative and implementation costs of the DFW and the FGC, relating to those licenses.
4. Requires the purchase of certain sport fishing report cards and validations, in addition to a sport fishing license, to fish for certain species of fish or in certain locations. Examples of sport fishing report cards include a sport fishing ocean enhancement stamp, a steelhead trout report card, a second rod sport fishing validation, and a salmon punch card. All report cards and validations are valid for the calendar year.

FISCAL EFFECT: According to Assembly Appropriations Committee:

1. Unknown increased costs resulting from the codification of an existing task force. By putting the task force in statute, public meeting law requirements will apply. As an example, Fish and Game Commission meetings cost about $30,000 per meeting.
2. Other administrative costs are likely absorbable. Additionally, the proposed DFW 2018-19 Budget includes an R3 coordinator position.

COMMENTS: Fishing license sales in California peaked in the early 1980's with approximately 2.5 million licenses being issued in a single year. In 2017, there were approximately 1.8 million licenses issued. However, in that time, annual (year-long) licenses fell from nearly 2.3 million to approximately 1 million.

Adjusting for inflation, DFW revenue from sport fishing has held fairly steady from the 1980s through 2017, at approximately $60-65 million annually. The ability of the revenue to hold steady has been impacted by license fees increasing steadily over that same timeframe. These funds primarily feed into the DFW's Fish and Game Preservation Fund (FGPF) which the DFW may spend at its discretion.

However, the FGPF has a structural deficit of approximately $20 million annually. The 2018-19 Governor's Budget proposes $51 million in new funding for DFW from three sources: tire recycling fees, vehicle registration and driver's license fees (Motor Vehicle Account), and the General Fund. Of the $51 million proposed, $20 million would address the ongoing FGPF operating shortfall and $31 million would be used to expand DFW activities. The budget proposal establishes an R3 coordinator and identifies improving hunting and fishing participation as important. The likelihood of this budget proposal or some other approach to reducing the structural deficit moving forward is not known at this time.

The DFW is currently pursuing a coordinated approach to implementing successful R3 programs. The DFW has created an internal R3 Task Force of executive-level staff.

The DFW indicates it plans to draft a California Hunting and Fishing R3 Action Plan in coordination with stakeholders, and then partner with stakeholders to implement the initiatives in the plan. Unlike this bill, the DFW's effort includes hunting as well as fishing.

The DFW provides several R3 angler efforts including free fishing days, Fishing in the City, Fishing Passport Program, Heritage Trout Challenge, Trout Fest events, Vamos A Pescar Grant Program, and direct email marketing. The extent to which these programs are coordinated or address common failures of R3 efforts is not clear.

Analysis Prepared by: Ryan Ojakian / W., P., & W. / (916) 319-2096 FN: 0003152

Date of Hearing: April 4, 2018

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2465

Author:(Gallagher) – As Amended Ver:March 21, 2018

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to convene the “R3 Group” (standing for “Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation”) on or before February 1, 2019, to collaborate with DFW to identify the barriers that contribute to the decline in the sales of sport fishing licenses. Additionally, this bill:

1. Prohibits the members of the R3 Group from receiving compensation and specifies membership shall include the DFW director and sport fishing industry stakeholders.
2. Establishes a process taking no longer than 120 days for the R3 Group to identify barriers to sport fishing, develop and approve recommendations for removing identified barriers and report those recommendations to the Legislature.
3. Requires the R3 Group to consider specified best practices for angler R3 program evaluations when making recommendations.

FISCAL EFFECT:

Unknown increased costs resulting from the codification of an existing task force. By putting the task force in statute, public meeting law requirements will apply. As an example, Fish and Game Commission Meetings cost about $30,000 per meeting.

Other administrative costs are likely absorbable. Additionally, the proposed DFW 2018-19 Budget includes an R3 coordinator position.

COMMENTS:

1. Background. DFW is currently pursuing a coordinated approach to implementing successful R3 programs. Specifically, DFW has created an internal R3 Task Force of executive-level staff, and has proposed a full-time R3 coordinator position in the proposed 2018-19 budget.

DFW indicates it plans to draft a California Hunting and Fishing R3 Action Plan in coordination with stakeholders, and then partner with stakeholders to implement the initiatives in the plan. Unlike this bill, DFW’s effort includes hunting as well as fishing.

DFW provides several R3 angler efforts including free fishing days, Fishing in the City, Fishing Passport Program, Heritage Trout Challenge, Trout Fest events, Vamos A Pescar Grant Program, and direct email marketing. The extent to which these programs are coordinated or address common failures of R3 efforts is not clear.

1. Purpose. According to the author, barriers such as high license costs have resulted in a drastic decrease in funding for important fishery management and wildlife conservation programs. This bill requires DFW to convene a sport fishing group to identify and make recommendations for removing barriers to sport fishing.
2. Fish and Game Preservation Fund. Fishing license sales in California peaked in the early 1980’s with approximately 2.5 million licenses being issued in a single year. In 2017, there were approximately 1.8 million licenses issued. However, in that time, annual (year-long) licenses fell from nearly 2.3 million to approximately 1 million.

Adjusting for inflation, DFW revenue from sport fishing has held fairly steady from the 1980’s through 2017, at approximately $60-65 million annually. The ability of the revenue to hold steady has been impacted by license fees increasing steadily over that same timeframe. These funds primarily feed into the DFW’s Fish and Game Preservation Fund (FGPF) which the DFW may spend at its discretion.

However, the FGPF has a structural deficit of approximately $20 million annually. The 2018-19 Governor’s Budget proposes $51 million in new funding for DFW from three sources: tire recycling fees, vehicle registration and driver’s license fees (Motor Vehicle Account), and the General Fund. Of the $51 million proposed, $20 million would address the ongoing FGPF operating shortfall and $31 million would be used to expand DFW activities.

The budget proposal establishes an R3 coordinator and identifies improving hunting and fishing participation as important. The likelihood of this budget proposal or some other approach to reducing the structural deficit moving forward is not known at this time.

Analysis Prepared by: Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: March 20, 2018

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE

Eduardo Garcia, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2465 (

Author:Gallagher) – As Introduced Ver:February 14, 2018

SUBJECT: Sport fishing licenses: decline in sales: advisory group

SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to convene a sport fishing industry group, to be known as the R3 Group, standing for Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation on or before February 1, 2019. Specifically, this bill:

1. Establishes that the purpose of the R3 Group shall be to collaborate with the DFW to identify barriers to sport fishing that contribute to the decline in sales of sport fishing licenses.
2. Specifies the members of the R3 Group shall not receive compensation and shall include the director of the DFW and sport fishing industry stakeholders.
3. Establishes a process taking no longer than 120 days beginning in February 2019, for the R3 Group to identify barriers to sport fishing, to develop and approve recommendations for removing identified barriers and report those recommendations to the Legislature.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Requires every person 16 years of age and older who takes any fish, reptile, or amphibian for any purpose other than profit to first purchase and be able to present a sport fishing license to fish. Makes available for purchase an annual sport fishing license valid for the January to December calendar year, a 10-day license for nonresidents only, a 2-day license and a 1-day license.
2. Requires a sport fishing license to be issued to a resident, 16 years of age or older, for a base fee of $31.25, and to a nonresident for a base fee of $84. The base fees were placed in statute in 2004 and are adjusted annually based on inflation. With annual adjustments, the current license fee for a resident adult sport fishing license is $48.34, and for nonresidents is $130.42.
3. Requires the Fish and Game Commission (FGC) to adjust the amount of fees, as necessary, to fully recover but not exceed, all reasonable administrative and implementation costs of the DFW and the FGC, relating to those licenses.
4. Requires the purchase of certain sport fishing report cards and validations, in addition to a sport fishing license, to fish for certain species of fish or in certain locations. Examples of sport fishing report cards include a sport fishing ocean enhancement stamp, a steelhead trout report card, a second rod sport fishing validation, and a salmon punch card. All report cards and validations are valid for the calendar year.

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.

COMMENTS: Requires the DFW to convene a sport fishing R3 Group to identify barriers and make recommendations for removing barriers to sport fishing.

Author’s Statement:

Barriers to access such as high license costs have resulted in an unprecedented decline in recreational fishing. This has also resulted in a drastic decrease in funding for important fishery management and wildlife conservation programs that are funded through license sales.

Background: Status of Sport Fishing and Impact on the DFW Budget. Fishing license sales in California peaked in the early 1980’s with approximately 2.5 million licenses being issued in a single year. In 2017 there were approximately 1.8 million licenses issued. However, in that time, annual (year-long) licenses fell from nearly 2.3 million to approximately 1 million.

Adjusting for inflation, DFW revenue from sport fishing has held fairly steady from the 1980’s through 2017 at approximately $60-65 million annually. The ability of the revenue to hold steady has been impacted by license fees increasing steadily over that same timeframe. These funds primarily feed into the DFW’s Fish and Game Preservation Fund (FGPF) which the DFW may spend at their discretion.

The FGPF receives about $80 million annually, of which sport fishing revenues make up the largest portion of the FGPF. The FGPF has a structural deficit of approximately $20 million annually. There was a proposed fix in the 2017-18 budget that hinged on increases to commercial fishing fees that failed. There is a proposed fix in the 2018-19 budget that hinges on funds from tire recycling fees, vehicle registration and driver’s license fees, and the general fund. Among other things, the budget proposal identifies improving hunting and fishing participation, and specifies R3 as important for achieving increased participation. The likelihood of the 2018-19 budget proposal or some other approach moving forward is not known at this time.

Barriers to Fishing and R3 Effectiveness. In national reviews the barriers to fishing have been identified as:

• Lack of access, including cost;
• Lack of awareness;
• Lack of skills;
• Lack of motivation; and,
• Lack of effective angler R3 efforts.

It is likely that the barriers to sport fishing in California are similar to those experienced around the country but will also have some California specific aspects. It has been suggested that the relatively high cost and complex regulations are significant hindrances to fishing participation in California.

R3 has been widely recognized as the most effective means for increasing participation in fishing. In recommendations to increase the effectiveness of angler R3 efforts nationally it has been found that many R3 efforts have not:

• Identified target audiences;
• Designed strategies to address barriers to fishing participation for a target audience;
• Implemented an evaluation process to determine if programs are achieving intended outcomes; or,
• Established a process to improve the program over time.

In a recent article, the president of the California Sportfishing League wrote, “An effective angler recruitment, retention and reactivation program is the first step to growing angler participation in our great state. However, to be completely successful we must all work together and develop a strategy that addresses all of the barriers to fishing, whether that is lack of fishing access, fishing skills, or basic cost of a fishing license. A comprehensive strategy will be required if we are to succeed.”

DFW Actions on R3. R3 coordination is a relatively new field. Two years ago 7 states had R3 coordinators. As of January of this year, 26 states have R3 coordinators. California has recently taken a more proactive approach to R3 with the DFW actively pursuing a coordinated approach to implementing successful R3 programs. Specifically, the DFW has created an internal R3 Task Force of executive-level staff, hired a full-time R3 coordinator, is coordinating with fishing and hunting R3 stakeholders and evaluating its current R3 programs. The DFW has stated that it plans to draft a California Hunting and Fishing R3 Action Plan in coordination with stakeholders, and then partner with stakeholders to implement the initiatives in the plan.

The DFW currently provides several R3 angler efforts including free fishing days, Fishing in the City, Fishing Passport Program, Heritage Trout Challenge, Trout Fest events, Vamos A Pescar Grant Program, and direct email marketing. The extent to which these programs are coordinated or address common failures of R3 efforts is not clear. It would appear that the DFWs recent actions are intended to produce greater effect from the existing programs and to achieve greater success from future efforts.

Prior and Related Legislation:

• AB 986 (Gallagher), 2018, among other things, beginning January 1, 2020, requires a 12 consecutive month sport fishing license to be available and have a base fee of 130% of the fee required for the existing calendar-year license. The bill is currently in Senate Rules Committee.
• SB 187 (Berryhill), 2017, would have required every person 16 years of age or older, to be issued a sport fishing license for 12 consecutive months. The bill was held in Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Supporting Arguments: The Director of the DFW reached out to the California Sportfishing League and invited the league to work with the DFW to increase fishing participation. The league is fully engaged with the DFW in developing their program for R3. This bill will serve as a vehicle for the next administration to continue the R3 effort in conjunction with the recreational angling community.

Committee Amendments: The committee suggests the bill specify that the recommendations of the R3 Group make use of nationally recognized best practices for the development and implementation of R3 efforts. The committee suggests that on Page 2 after line 26 the following language be added:

(d) (3) The R3 Group recommendations shall take into consideration best practices for the evaluation of angler R3 programs including consideration of the evaluation framework described in Appendix C of the Recommendation and Strategic Tools for Effective Angler Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation (R3) Efforts and the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundations Best Practices Guide to Program Evaluation for Aquatic Educators.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

California Sportfishing League

Opposition

None on File

Analysis Prepared by: Ryan Ojakian / W., P., & W. / (916) 319-2096