(1)Existing law requires the receipts, reports, or other records filed with the department pursuant to specified laws, and the information contained therein, to, except as provided, be confidential and to not be public records, as specified.

This bill would revise and recast the above-described provision to additionally require certain landing receipts and records of fishing activities to be confidential and to not be public records, except for fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names, as provided.

(2)Existing law requires certain persons to report all fish sales, deliveries, transfers, and landings using an electronic fish ticket as prescribed pursuant to regulations adopted by the Fish and Game Commission, including a person engaged in specified activities who is required to have a marine aquaria receivers license, as provided.

This bill would instead remove from the provision above relating to reports using an electronic fish ticket, that person engaged in specified activities who is required to have a marine aquaria receivers license, as provided.

(3)Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

(1)Existing law requires the receipts, reports, or other records filed with the department pursuant to specified laws, and the information contained therein, to, except as provided, be confidential and to not be public records, as specified.

This bill would revise and recast the above-described provision to additionally require certain landing receipts and records of fishing activities to be confidential and to not be public records, except for fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names, as provided.

(2)Existing law requires certain persons to report all fish sales, deliveries, transfers, and landings using an electronic fish ticket as prescribed pursuant to regulations adopted by the Fish and Game Commission, including a person engaged in specified activities who is required to have a marine aquaria receivers license, as provided.

This bill would instead remove from the provision above relating to reports using an electronic fish ticket, that person engaged in specified activities who is required to have a marine aquaria receivers license, as provided.

(3)Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

(1)Existing law requires the receipts, reports, or other records filed with the department pursuant to specified laws, and the information contained therein, to, except as provided, be confidential and to not be public records, as specified.

This bill would revise and recast the above-described provision to additionally require certain landing receipts and records of fishing activities to be confidential and to not be public records, except for fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names, as provided.

(2)Existing law requires certain persons to report all fish sales, deliveries, transfers, and landings using an electronic fish ticket as prescribed pursuant to regulations adopted by the Fish and Game Commission, including a person engaged in specified activities who is required to have a marine aquaria receivers license, as provided.

This bill would instead remove from the provision above relating to reports using an electronic fish ticket, that person engaged in specified activities who is required to have a marine aquaria receivers license, as provided.

(3)Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

(1)Existing law requires the receipts, reports, or other records filed with the department pursuant to specified laws, and the information contained therein, to, except as provided, be confidential and to not be public records, as specified.

This bill would revise and recast the above-described provision to additionally require certain landing receipts and records of fishing activities to be confidential and to not be public records, except for the contents of those landing receipts and records of fishing activities with respect to fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names, as provided.

(2)Existing law requires certain persons to report all fish sales, deliveries, transfers, and landings using an electronic fish ticket as prescribed pursuant to regulations adopted by the Fish and Game Commission, including a person engaged in specified activities who is required to have a marine aquaria receivers license, as provided.

This bill would instead remove from the provision above relating to reports using an electronic fish ticket, that person engaged in specified activities who is required to have a marine aquaria receivers license, as provided.

(3)Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

(1)Existing law requires the receipts, reports, or other records filed with the department pursuant to specified laws, and the information contained therein, to, except as provided, be confidential and to not be public records, as specified.

This bill would revise and recast the above-described provision to additionally require certain landing receipts and records of fishing activities to be confidential and to not be public records, except for the contents of those landing receipts and records of fishing activities with respect to fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names, as provided.

(2)Existing law requires certain persons to report all fish sales, deliveries, transfers, and landings using an electronic fish ticket as prescribed pursuant to regulations adopted by the Fish and Game Commission, including a person engaged in specified activities who is required to have a marine aquaria receivers license, as provided.

This bill would instead remove from the provision above relating to reports using an electronic fish ticket, that person engaged in specified activities who is required to have a marine aquaria receivers license, as provided.

(3)Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Date of Hearing: August 20, 2025

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Buffy Wicks, Chair

SBPCA Bill Id:SB 609

Author:(Laird) – As Amended Ver:May 23, 2025

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

SUMMARY:

This bill updates commercial fishing record confidentiality laws to improve record accuracy.

Specifically, this bill, among other things:

1. Deems fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names contained in landing receipts, reports, or other records filed with CDFW public information and makes this information available upon request.
2. Provides that the information and data relating to catch contained in the landing receipts and records of fishing activities filed with CDFW are to remain confidential and are not public records.
3. Deletes the requirement that marine aquaria receivers submit an electronic fish ticket for bringing ashore their own live fish.

FISCAL EFFECT:

CDFW reports minor and absorbable costs to implement this bill. Following implementation, CDFW contends this bill would save the department over 300 hours of staff time per year currently spent on correcting data errors.

COMMENTS:

1) Purpose. According to the author:

The Department of Fish and Wildlife is responsible for ensuring that commercial fishing activity is accurately recorded and reported. However, California’s stringent confidentiality laws prevent information about commercial fishers and vessels from being shared with those who do the reporting. This results in frequent data entry errors as proper identifications cannot be referenced, requiring the Department to allocate staff time to correcting basic errors. Senate Bill 609 updates California’s confidentiality laws to align with those in other West Coast states by designating specific information already considered non confidential by the National Marine Fisheries Service, such as identification numbers and names, to be nonconfidential.

2) Background. Confidentiality of Commercial Fishing Records. Current law requires commercial fishers to obtain certain applicable licenses and report their catch to participate in federal and state fisheries. Similarly, current law requires fish businesses to obtain certain applicable licenses and report their possession and handling of fish. In California, the names and identification numbers of fish businesses, the names and fishing license numbers of commercial fishers, and fishing vessel names and identification numbers are confidential information and cannot be released to the public.

According to prior committee analyses, this practice is somewhat unusual for West Coast fisheries. For example, both Oregon and Washington do not hold the names of commercial fishers confidential, and Oregon releases license numbers publicly. Both California and Oregon require vessel identification numbers to be publicly displayed on the exterior of the vessel. In general, fishing activity and landing receipt data are treated as proprietary business information and are kept confidential across the West Coast, with limited exceptions. To increase efficiency, over the last several years, both the federal government and the state have implemented electronic reporting of landing receipts and other fishing records which were previously reported on paper. CDFW staff collect and report the data and work to ensure the accuracy of the records.

Unfortunately, the accuracy of the electronic ticket reporting by commercial fishers and fish businesses is compromised by the misidentification of commercial fishers, fish businesses, and vessels, likely due to inflexible confidentiality requirements. CDFW processes between 45,000 and 50,000 landing receipts annually and indicates that 50% of the errors identified in these receipts are due to misidentification. CDFW estimates that identifying and correcting these errors takes hundreds of hours of staff time. Because of confidentiality laws, CDFW is unable to share identifying information with other fishers or businesses for verification purposes, which undermines the overall accuracy of the state’s commercial fishing records. This bill enables CDFW to use these identifying details to correct erroneous landing receipts.

Marine Aquaria Landing Receipts. Current law requires any person engaged in the business of receiving live marine species native to California waters for the purpose of wholesaling or retailing these species for the pet industry or hobby purposes to obtain a Marine Aquaria Receiver’s License. When these species are transferred from the collector to the receiver, the transaction must be documented with a landing receipt, which is still done on paper. Recent updates to statute, however, inadvertently required these landing receipts to also be reported electronically. This bill corrects that reference.

Analysis Prepared by: Nikita Koraddi / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: July 1, 2025

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE

Diane Papan, Chair

SBPCA Bill Id:SB 609

Author:(Laird) – As Amended Ver:May 23, 2025

SENATE VOTE: 38-0

SUBJECT: Fish: commercial fishing

SUMMARY: Authorizes the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to publicly release commercial fisher names and fishing license numbers, fish business names and identification numbers, and fishing vessel names and registration numbers to facilitate the accurate reporting of fishing activity, landing receipt, and fish sales, deliveries and transfers reporting. Specifically, this bill:

1. Makes fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names contained in landing receipts, reports, or other records filed with the CDFW public records.
2. Provides that the information and data relating to catch contained in the landing receipts and records of fishing activities filed with CDFW are to remain confidential and are not public records.
3. Deletes the requirement that marine aquaria receivers submit an electronic fish ticket for bringing ashore their own live fish.
4. States that as the Legislature finds and declares that the limitation on the access to public records is needed in order to protect the privacy of potentially sensitive or proprietary data of commercial fishers, owners of commercial fishing vessels, and fish businesses, while also collecting necessary data regarding the extent and variety of species fished, it is necessary that commercial fishing receipts, reports, or other records and the information contained in them remain confidential.
5. Makes various other technical and conforming changes.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Requires commercial fishers, and fish businesses to obtain commercial fishing and fish business licenses [Fish and Game Code (FGC) §§ 7850 et seq., §§ 7880 et seq., §§ 8030 et seq.].
2. Requires the reporting of all fish sales, deliveries, transfers, and landings using an electronic fish ticket. Requires the ticket to include commercial fisher name and identification number, vessel name and license number, and the name and identification number, as applicable, of the receiver of the fish (FGC §§ 8040 et seq.).
3. Requires a person engaged in certain activities to obtain a marine aquaria collector’s permit or receiver’s license (FGC § 8033.1 and § 8597). Further, requires the reporting of marine aquaria landing receipts as required by CDFW (FGC § 8043.1).
4. Requires the commercial fishing receipts, reports, or other records reported to CDFW and the information within them to be held confidential and not as public records, except as specifically provided. Requires that reported commercial fishing data be compiled or published as summaries as far as possible in order to not disclose the individual record or business of any person (FGC § 8022).

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed fiscal.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose of this bill. According to the author, “[CDFW] is responsible for ensuring that commercial fishing activity is accurately recorded and reported. However, California’s stringent confidentiality laws prevent information about commercial fishers and vessels from being shared with those who do the reporting. This results in frequent data entry errors as proper identifications cannot be referenced, requiring [CDFW] to allocate staff time to correcting basic errors. [This bill] updates California’s confidentiality laws to align with those in other West Coast states by designating specific information already considered non confidential by the National Marine Fisheries Service, such as identification numbers and names, to be non-confidential. This will reduce the amount of time that [CDFW] spends correcting errors and will improve the efficiency and accuracy of commercial fishing activity reporting.”
2. Background. Commercial fishers need to have the proper licenses and must report their catch to take part in state and federal fisheries. Fish businesses also have similar requirements—they must be licensed and report how they handle and possess fish.

Confidentiality of commercial fishing records. In California, certain details about commercial fishing operations are considered confidential and cannot be released to the public. This includes the names and ID numbers of fish businesses, the names and fishing license numbers of commercial fishers, and vessel names and ID numbers. California has some of the strongest confidentiality laws for commercial fishing records on the West Coast. For example, both Oregon and Washington do not treat the names of commercial fishers as confidential, and Oregon makes license numbers publicly available. Both California and Oregon require vessel identification numbers to be publicly displayed on the exterior of the vessel.

In general, fishing activity and landing receipt data are treated as proprietary business information and are kept confidential across the U.S. West Coast, with limited exceptions. In California, this data is released to the public only in aggregated form, such as by port. To increase efficiency, over the last several years, both the federal government and the state have implemented electronic reporting of landing receipts and other fishing records which were previously reported on paper. CDFW staff collect and report the data and work to ensure the accuracy of the records.

Unfortunately, the accuracy of the electronic ticket reporting by commercial fishers and fish businesses is compromised by the misidentification of commercial fishers, fish businesses, and vessels, likely due to the inflexible confidentiality requirements. CDFW processes 45,000–50,000 landing receipts annually and indicates that 50% of the errors identified in these receipts are due to misidentification. CDFW estimates that identifying and correcting these errors takes hundreds of hours of staff time. Because of the confidentiality laws, CDFW is not able to share identifying information with other fishers or businesses for verification purposes, which undermines the overall accuracy of the state’s commercial fishing records. This bill will enable CDFW to use these identifying details to correct erroneous landing receipts.

Marine aquaria landing receipts. Any person engaged in the business of receiving live marine species native to California waters for the purpose of wholesaling or retailing these species for the pet industry or hobby purposes must obtain a Marine Aquaria Receiver’s License. When these species are transferred from the collector to the receiver, the transaction has to be documented with a landing receipt, which is still done on paper. Recent updates to statute, however, inadvertently also required these landing receipts to be reported electronically. This bill corrects that reference.

1. Double referral. This bill is also referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
2. Related legislation. SB 500 (McGuire), Chapter 876, Statutes of 2023, among other things addressed provisions in statute related to landing receipts and electronic fish tickets.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

None on file

Opposition

None on file

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

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: SB 609

Author: Laird (D)

Amended: 5/23/25

Vote: 21

SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 7-0, 3/25/25

AYES: Limón, Seyarto, Allen, Grove, Hurtado, Laird, Stern

SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 13-0, 4/8/25

AYES: Umberg, Niello, Allen, Arreguín, Ashby, Caballero, Durazo, Laird, Stern, Valladares, Wahab, Weber Pierson, Wiener

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 6-0, 5/23/25

AYES: Caballero, Seyarto, Cabaldon, Grayson, Richardson, Wahab

NO VOTE RECORDED: Dahle

SUBJECT: Fish: commercial fishing

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST:

This bill authorizes the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to publicly release commercial fisher names and fishing license numbers, fish business names and identification numbers, and fishing vessel names and registration numbers upon request in order to facilitate the accurate reporting of fishing activity, landing receipts, and fish sales, deliveries and transfers. This bill also deletes the requirement that marine aquaria receivers submit an electronic fish ticket for bringing ashore their own live fish.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Requires commercial fishers, and fish businesses to obtain commercial fishing and fish business licenses, respectively. (Fish and Game Code (FGC) §§7850 et seq., §§7880 et seq., §§8030 et seq.)
2. Requires the reporting of all fish sales, deliveries, transfers, and landings using an electronic fish ticket, as provided. (FGC §§8040 et seq.) Information included in the ticket includes commercial fisher name and identification number, vessel name and license number, and the name and identification number, as applicable, of the received of the fish. (FGC §8043)
3. Requires a person engaged in certain activities to obtain a marine aquaria collector’s permit or receiver’s license. (FGC §8033.1, §8597) Requires the reporting of marine aquaria landing receipts as required by CDFW. (FGC §8043.1)
4. Requires the commercial fishing receipts, reports, or other records reported to CDFW and the information within them to be held confidential and not as public records, except as specifically provided. Requires that reported commercial fishing data be compiled or published as summaries as far as possible in order to not disclose the individual record or business of any person. (FGC §8022)
5. Provides, pursuant to the California Constitution, that the people have the right of access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business, and, therefore, the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies are required to be open to public scrutiny. (California Constitution (Cal. Const.) Art. I, § 3(b)(1))
   1. Requires a statute to be broadly construed if it furthers the people’s right of access, and narrowly construed if it limits the right of access. (Cal. Const. Art. I, § 3(b)(1))
   2. Requires a statute that limits the public’s right of access to be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. (Cal. Const. Art. I, § 3(b)(1))
6. Governs the disclosure of information collected and maintained by public agencies pursuant to the California Public Records Act (CPRA). (Government Code (GOV) §§ 7920.000 et seq.)
   1. States that the Legislature, mindful of the individual right to privacy, finds and declares that access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state. (GOV § 7921.000)
   2. Defines “public records” as any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics. (GOV § 7920.530)
   3. Provides that all public records are accessible to the public upon request, unless the record requested is exempt from public disclosure. (GOV § 7922.530(a))

This bill:

1. Deems fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names public information and makes them available upon request.
   1. Maintains the confidentiality of landing receipts and records of fishing activities, including certain records provided to the commission.
2. Makes relevant legislative findings and declarations to justify continuing to hold data contained in the landing receipts and other records provided to CDFW and the commission by commercial fishers and fish businesses, such as extent and variety of species fished, confidential.
3. Deletes the requirement that marine aquaria receivers submit an electronic fish ticket for bringing ashore their own live fish.
4. Makes various technical and conforming changes to statute.

Background

In the last several years, both the federal government and the state have implemented electronic reporting of landing receipts and other fishing records which were previously reported on paper. CDFW personnel participated in the collection and reporting of the data and helped to ensure the accuracy of the paper records.

The accuracy of “E-tix” reporting by commercial fishers and fish businesses is compromised by the misidentification of commercial fishers, fish businesses, and vessels. CDFW receives 45,000 – 50,000 landing receipts annually and 50% of the errors identified in these receipts stem from misidentification. CDFW estimates the thousands of errors made take hundreds of hours of staff time to identify and fix (where they can be readily fixed). Due to existing confidentiality protections, CDFW cannot make this identifying information available to other fishers for the purposes of record keeping, and the accuracy of the state’s commercial fishing records is thus compromised.

Marine aquaria landing receipts, however, continue to be kept on paper. Recent updates to statute, however, inadvertently also required these landing receipts to be reported electronically.

[NOTE: See the Senate Natural Resources and Water, and Judiciary Committees’ analyses for further information regarding this bill.]

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

• Unknown, potentially significant costs (General Fund or special fund) for CDFW to implement provisions of this bill. CDFW notes that following implementation, it would save the department over 300 hours of staff time per year that is currently being spent correcting errors.

SUPPORT: (Verified 5/23/25)

None received

OPPOSITION: (Verified 5/23/25)

None received

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, “The Department of Fish and Wildlife is responsible for ensuring that commercial fishing activity is accurately recorded and reported. However, California’s stringent confidentiality laws prevent information about commercial fishers and vessels from being shared with those who do the reporting. This results in frequent data entry errors as proper identifications cannot be reference, requiring the Department to allocate staff time to correcting basic errors. Senate Bill 609 updates California’s confidentiality laws to align with those in other West Coast states by designating specific information already considered non confidential by the National Marine Fisheries Service, such as identification numbers and names, to be nonconfidential. This will reduce the amount of time that the Department spends correcting errors and will improve the efficiency and accuracy of commercial fishing activity reporting.”

Prepared by: Katharine Moore / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116

5/27/25 13:57:09

**** END ****

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Anna Caballero, Chair

2025 - 2026 Regular Session

SB 609 (Laird) - Fish: commercial fishing

Bill Summary:

: This bill would make fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names contained in landing receipts, reports, or other records filed with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) public records. It would also delete the requirement that marine aquaria receivers submit an electronic fish ticket for bringing ashore their own live fish.

*********** ANALYSIS ADDENDUM – SUSPENSE FILE ***********

The following information is revised to reflect amendments

adopted by the committee on May 23, 2025

Fiscal Impact:

• Unknown, potentially significant costs (General Fund or special fund) for CDFW to implement provisions of this bill. CDFW notes that following implementation, it would save the department over 300 hours of staff time per year that is currently being spent correcting errors.

Author Amendments:

Authors amendments would clarify what information is nonconfidential.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Anna Caballero, Chair

2025 - 2026 Regular Session

SB 609 (Laird) - Fish: commercial fishing

Bill Summary:

This bill would make fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names contained in landing receipts, reports, or other records filed with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) public records. It would also delete the requirement that marine aquaria receivers submit an electronic fish ticket for bringing ashore their own live fish.

Fiscal Impact:

• Unknown, potentially significant costs (General Fund or special fund) for CDFW to implement provisions of this bill. CDFW notes that following implementation, it would save the department over 300 hours of staff time per year that is currently being spent correcting errors.

Background:

Under the CPRA, public records are open to inspection by the public at all times during the office hours of the agency, unless they are exempt from disclosure. (Gov. Code § 7922.525.) A public record is defined as any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business that is prepared, owned, used, or retained by any public agency regardless of physical form or characteristics. (Gov. Code § 7920.530.) There are several general categories of documents or information that are permissively exempt from disclosure under the CPRA essentially due to the character of the information. The exempt information can be withheld by the public agency with custody of the information, but it also may be disclosed if it is shown that the public’s interest in disclosure outweighs the public’s interest in non-disclosure of the information. (CBS, Inc. v. Block (1986) 42 Cal.3d 646, at 652.). Additionally, some records are prohibited from disclosure or are specifically stated to not be public records. (see e.g. Gov. Code § 7924.110(a).)

According to the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee, in recent years both the federal government and California have implemented electronic reporting of “landing receipts and other fishing records which were previously reported on paper. […] Unfortunately, the accuracy of “E-tix” reporting by commercial fishers and fish businesses is compromised by the misidentification of commercial fishers, fish businesses, and vessels. CDFW receives 45,000 – 50,000 landing receipts annually and 50% of the errors identified in these receipts stem from misidentification. CDFW estimates the thousands of errors made take hundreds of hours of staff time to identify and fix (where they can be readily fixed). Due to confidentiality protections, CDFW cannot make this identifying information available to other fishers for the purposes of record keeping, and the accuracy of the state’s commercial fishing records is thus compromised.

Proposed Law:

This bill would:

1. Make fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names contained in landing receipts, reports, or other records filed with the CDFW public records.
   1. Provide that the information and data relating to catch contained in the landing receipts and records of fishing activities filed with CDFW are to remain confidential and are not public records.
2. State that as the Legislature finds and declares that the limitation on the access to public records is needed in order to protect the privacy of potentially sensitive or proprietary data of commercial fishers, owners of commercial fishing vessels, and fish businesses, while also collecting necessary data regarding the extent and variety of species fished, it is necessary that commercial fishing receipts, reports, or other records and the information contained in them to remain confidential.
3. Delete the requirement that marine aquaria receivers submit an electronic fish ticket for bringing ashore their own live fish.
4. Make various other technical and conforming changes.

-- END --

609SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

Senator Thomas Umberg, Chair

2025-2026 Regular Session

Bill No: SB 609 (Author:Laird)

Version: March 27, 2025

Hearing Date: April 8, 2025

Fiscal: Yes

Urgency: No

Consultant: AM

SUBJECT

Fish: commercial fishing

DIGEST

This bill makes fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names contained in landing receipts, reports, or other records filed with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) public records. The bill also deletes the requirement that marine aquaria receivers submit an electronic fish ticket for bringing ashore their own live fish.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the past several years, CDFW implemented electronic reporting of landing receipts and other fishing records. According to the author, data entry errors frequently occur and are attributed to the existing confidentiality provisions that prevent CDFW from ensuring proper identifications, which results in CDFW allocating staff time to correcting basic errors. The author states that the bill aligns California with other West Coast states, and notes that the information the bill authorizes to be public is already considered non-confidential by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The bill is author-sponsored. No timely support or opposition was received by the Committee. The bill passed the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water on a vote of 7 to 0.

PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE LAW

Existing law:

1. Requires commercial fishers and fish businesses to obtain commercial fishing and fish business licenses, respectively from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). (Fish & Game Code §§ 7850 et seq.; §§ 7880 et seq.; §§ 8030 et seq.)
2. Requires the reporting of all fish sales, deliveries, transfers, and landings using an electronic fish ticket, as provided. (Fish & G. Code §§ 8040 et. seq.)
   1. Information included in the ticket includes commercial fisher name and identification number, vessel name and license number, and the name and identification number of the receiver of the fish. (Fish & G. Code § 8043.)
3. Requires a person engaged in certain activities to obtain a marine aquaria collector’s permit or receiver’s license. (Fish & G. Code § 8033.1; § 8597.)
   1. Requires the reporting of marine aquaria landing receipts as required by CDFW. (Fish & G. Code § 8043.1.)
4. Requires the commercial fishing receipts, reports, or other records reported to CDFW and the information within them is to be held confidential.
   1. Requires reported commercial fishing data to be compiled or published as summaries, so as not to disclose the individual record or business of any person.
   2. Authorizes CDFW to release the confidential information to any federal agency responsible for fishery management activities, provided the information is used solely for the purposes of enforcing fishery management provisions and provided the information will otherwise remain confidential.
   3. Authorizes CDFW to release the confidential information to any appropriate federal, state, or local agency or agencies in other states, for purposes of law enforcement, pursuant to a court order, to a public or private postsecondary institution engaged in research under the terms of a legally binding confidentiality agreement, or under other conditions as the California Fish and Game Commission by regulation may provide. (Fish & G. Code § 8022.)
5. Provides, pursuant to the California Constitution, that the people have the right of access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business, and, therefore, the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies are required to be open to public scrutiny. (Cal. const. art. I, § 3(b)(1).)
   1. Requires a statute to be broadly construed if it furthers the people’s right of access, and narrowly construed if it limits the right of access. (Cal. const. art. I, § 3(b)(1).)
   2. Requires a statute that limits the public’s right of access to be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. (Cal. const. art. I, § 3(b)(1).)
6. Governs the disclosure of information collected and maintained by public agencies pursuant to the California Public Records Act (CPRA). (Gov. Code §§ 7920.000 et seq.)
   1. States that the Legislature, mindful of the individual right to privacy, finds and declares that access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state. (Gov. Code § 7921.000.)
   2. Defines “public records” as any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics. (Gov. Code § 7920.530.)
   3. Provides that all public records are accessible to the public upon request, unless the record requested is exempt from public disclosure. (Gov. Code § 7922.530(a).)

This bill:

1. Makes fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names contained in landing receipts, reports, or other records filed with the CDFW public records.
   1. Provides that the information and data relating to catch contained in the landing receipts and records of fishing activities filed with CDFW are to remain confidential and are not public records.
2. States that as the Legislature finds and declares that the limitation on the access to public records is needed in order to protect the privacy of potentially sensitive or proprietary data of commercial fishers, owners of commercial fishing vessels, and fish businesses, while also collecting necessary data regarding the extent and variety of species fished, it is necessary that commercial fishing receipts, reports, or other records and the information contained in them to remain confidential.
3. Deletes the requirement that marine aquaria receivers submit an electronic fish ticket for bringing ashore their own live fish.
4. Makes various other technical and conforming changes.

COMMENTS

1. Stated need for the bill

The author writes:

The Department of Fish and Wildlife is responsible for ensuring that commercial fishing activity is accurately recorded and reported. However, California’s stringent confidentiality laws prevent information about commercial fishers and vessels from being shared with those who do the reporting. This results in frequent data entry errors as proper identifications cannot be referenced, requiring the Department to allocate staff time to correcting basic errors. Senate Bill 609 updates California’s confidentiality laws to align with those in other West Coast states by designating specific information already considered non-confidential by the National Marine Fisheries Service, such as identification numbers and names, to be non-confidential. This will reduce the amount of time that the Department spends correcting errors and will improve the efficiency and accuracy of commercial fishing activity reporting.

1. Public records

Under the CPRA, public records are open to inspection by the public at all times during the office hours of the agency, unless they are exempt from disclosure. (Gov. Code § 7922.525.) A public record is defined as any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business that is prepared, owned, used, or retained by any public agency regardless of physical form or characteristics. (Gov. Code § 7920.530.) There are several general categories of documents or information that are permissively exempt from disclosure under the CPRA essentially due to the character of the information. The exempt information can be withheld by the public agency with custody of the information, but it also may be disclosed if it is shown that the public’s interest in disclosure outweighs the public’s interest in non-disclosure of the information. (CBS, Inc. v. Block (1986) 42 Cal.3d 646, at 652.). Additionally, some records are prohibited from disclosure or are specifically stated to not be public records. (see e.g. Gov. Code § 7924.110(a).)

1. CDFW and commercial fishers business license information, landing receipts, and reports

According to the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee, in recent years both the federal government and California have implemented electronic reporting of “landing receipts and other fishing records which were previously reported on paper. […] Unfortunately, the accuracy of “E-tix” reporting by commercial fishers and fish businesses is compromised by the misidentification of commercial fishers, fish businesses, and vessels. CDFW receives 45,000 – 50,000 landing receipts annually and 50% of the errors identified in these receipts stem from misidentification. CDFW estimates the thousands of errors made take hundreds of hours of staff time to identify and fix (where they can be readily fixed). Due to confidentiality protections, CDFW cannot make this identifying information available to other fishers for the purposes of record keeping, and the accuracy of the state’s commercial fishing records is thus compromised.”^[1]

This bill seeks to address this issue by making certain information that is contained in landing receipts, reports, or other records filed with CDFW available to the public as a public record— specifically, fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names. This bill will expand access to information for the public while simultaneously maintaining the confidentiality of sensitive and proprietary business information that is contained in landing receipts, reports, or other records filed with CDFW and is already confidential under existing law. As noted in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee analysis of the bill, this bill will place California more in line with reporting in other West Coast fisheries, as “Oregon, Washington, and certain federal fisheries do not uniformly hold name and license or identification number information confidential.”^[2]

SUPPORT

None received

OPPOSITION

None received

RELATED LEGISLATION

Pending Legislation: None known.

Prior Legislation: None known.

PRIOR VOTES:

Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water (7 Ayes, 0 Noes)

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1. Sen. Nat. Res. & Wat. Comm. analysis of SB 609 (2025-26 reg. sess.) as introduced Feb. 20, 2025) at pp. 1-2. ↑

2. Id. at p. 1. ↑

SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER

Senator Monique Limón, Chair

2025 - 2026 Regular

Bill No: SB Hearing Date: March 25, 2025

Subject: Fish: commercial fishing

SUMMARY

This bill would authorize the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to publicly release commercial fisher names and fishing license numbers, fish business names and identification numbers, and fishing vessel names and registration numbers in order to facilitate the accurate reporting of fishing activity, landing receipt, and fish sales, deliveries and transfers reporting, among other provisions.

BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW

1. Commercial fishers are required to obtain certain applicable licenses and report their catch to participate in federal and state fisheries. Similarly, fish businesses are also required to obtain certain applicable licenses and report their possession and handling of fish.
2. In California, the names and identification numbers of fish businesses, the names and fishing license numbers of commercial fishers, and fishing vessel names and identification numbers are confidential information and cannot be released to the public. This is somewhat unusual for US West Coast fisheries as Oregon, Washington, and certain federal fisheries do not uniformly hold name and license or identification number information confidential.
3. For example, both Oregon and Washington do not hold the names of commercial fishers confidential, and Oregon releases the license number publicly.
4. Additionally, in California and Oregon, vessel identification numbers have to be publicly displayed on the exterior of the vessel.
5. Generally all of the US West Coast fisheries hold individual fishing activity and landing receipt data confidential as proprietary business information with limited exception. Fishing activity and landing receipt data are released to the public in aggregate in California, such as by port.
6. In the last several years, both the federal government and the state have implemented electronic reporting of landing receipts and other fishing records which were previously reported on paper. CDFW personnel participated in the collection and reporting of the data and helped to ensure the accuracy of the paper records.
7. Unfortunately, the accuracy of “E-tix” reporting by commercial fishers and fish businesses is compromised by the misidentification of commercial fishers, fish businesses, and vessels. CDFW receives 45,000 – 50,000 landing receipts annually and 50% of the errors identified in these receipts stem from misidentification. CDFW estimates the thousands of errors made take hundreds of hours of staff time to identify and fix (where they can be readily fixed). Due to confidentiality protections, CDFW cannot make this identifying information available to other fishers for the purposes of record keeping, and the accuracy of the state’s commercial fishing records is thus compromised.
8. Marine aquaria landing receipts, however, continue to be kept on paper. Recent updates to statute, however, inadvertently also required these landing receipts to be reported electronically.

Existing law:

1. Requires commercial fishers, and fish businesses to obtain commercial fishing and fish business licenses, respectively. (see Fish and Game Code (FGC) §§7850 et seq., §§7880 et seq., §§8030 et seq.)
2. Requires the reporting of all fish sales, deliveries, transfers, and landings using an electronic fish ticket, as provided. (FGC §§8040 et seq.) Information included in the ticket includes commercial fisher name and identification number, vessel name and license number, and the name and identification number, as applicable, of the received of the fish. (FGC §8043)
3. Requires a person engaged in certain activities to obtain a marine aquaria collector’s permit or receiver’s license. (FGC §8033.1, §8597) Requires the reporting of marine aquaria landing receipts as required by CDFW. (FGC §8043.1)
4. Requires the commercial fishing receipts, reports, or other records reported to CDFW and the information within them to be held confidential and not as public records, except as specifically provided. Requires that reported commercial fishing data be compiled or published as summaries as far as possible in order to not disclose the individual record or business of any person. (FGC §8022)

PROPOSED LAW

This bill would authorize CDFW to release the name and identification number of certain licenses held by commercial fishers, among other things. Specifically, this bill would:

1. Make fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names public records.
   1. Maintain the confidentiality of landing receipts and records of fishing activities, including certain records provided to the commission.
2. Make relevant legislative findings and declarations to justify continuing to hold data contained in the landing receipts and other records provided to CDFW and the commission by commercial fishers and fish businesses, such as extent and variety of species fished, confidential.
3. Delete the requirement that marine aquaria receivers submit an electronic fish ticket for bringing ashore their own live fish.
4. Make various technical and conforming changes to statute.

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT

According to the author, “The Department of Fish and Wildlife is responsible for ensuring that commercial fishing activity is accurately recorded and reported. However, California’s stringent confidentiality laws prevent information about commercial fishers and vessels from being shared with those who do the reporting. This results in frequent data entry errors as proper identifications cannot be reference, requiring the Department to allocate staff time to correcting basic errors. Senate Bill 609 updates California’s confidentiality laws to align with those in other West Coast states by designating specific information already considered non confidential by the National Marine Fisheries Service, such as identification numbers and names, to be nonconfidential. This will reduce the amount of time that the Department spends correcting errors and will improve the efficiency and accuracy of commercial fishing activity reporting.”

ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION

None received

COMMENTS

This bill is double-referred. This bill will be heard by both this Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee. Elements of the bill within the Senate Judiciary Committee’s jurisdiction will be heard before that Committee and are included here for context and completeness only.

Necessary fix. The enhanced productivity and efficiency of implementing electronic reporting of landing receipts and other fishing records is undone if CDFW personnel have to correct misidentified businesses in tens of thousands of receipts and records. While it is critical to continue to protect confidential data regarding fishing effort and catch, the benefit of releasing the names and identification or license numbers of commercial fishers and fish businesses to improve the accuracy of official reporting of the take of a public resource is important. In certain West Coast state and federal fisheries this information is already readily available.

Negotiated amendments. Discussions between CDFW, stakeholders, the author, and Committee staff led to the development of alternative language in an effort to address stakeholder concerns regarding the continuing protection of proprietary information from disclosure.

The Committee may wish to amend the bill to incorporate this clarifying language. [Amendment #1]

SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS

AMENDMENT 1

Amend Section 1 as follows:

8022. (a) (1) The landing receipts, reports, or other records filed with the department pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 7700) to Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 8040), inclusive, and the records of fishing activities described in Section 8026, shall the records filed with the commission pursuant to section 8026, and the information contained therein, shall, except as otherwise provided in this section, be confidential, and the records shall not be public records, except as provided in paragraph (2). Insofar as possible, the information contained in the records shall be compiled or published as summaries, so as not to disclose the individual record or business of any person.

(2) The contents of landing receipts and records of fishing activities described in paragraph (1) shall be confidential and shall not be public records except for fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names.

(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (b)(2), the information and data relating to catch contained in the landing receipts and records of fishing activities described in paragraph (1) shall be confidential and shall not be public information.

(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the department may release the confidential information described in subdivision (a) in the following circumstances only:

(1) to a federal agency responsible for fishery management activities, provided the information is used solely for the purposes of enforcing fishery management provisions and provided the information will otherwise remain confidential.

(2) Fish business identification numbers, fish business names, commercial fishing license numbers, commercial fisher names, vessel registration identification numbers, and vessel names exclusively, are deemed public information and may be provided upon request or published by the department.

(3) The department may also release this information in accordance with Section 391 or pursuant to a court order.,

(4) to a public or private postsecondary institution engaged in research under the terms of a legally binding confidentiality agreement, or

(5) under other conditions as the commission by regulation may provide.

(c) All forms, logs, books, covers, documents, electronic data, software, and other records of any kind issued or otherwise supplied, directly or indirectly, by the department, the purpose of which is to provide a means for reports, records, or other information to be filed with the department pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 7700) to Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 8040), inclusive, continue to be the property of the department. Those forms, logs, books, covers, documents, electronic data, software, other records, or portions thereof remain the property of the department whether used, unused, attached, or detached from their original binding, packaging, or other medium and shall be immediately surrendered upon demand to a peace officer of the department acting in their official capacity, without being altered in any manner.

SUPPORT

None received

OPPOSITION

None received

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