San Francisco, CA – Senator Mike McGuire, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture (JCFA), and Assemblymember Mark Stone, Vice Chairman, are hosting a comprehensive hearing TOMORROW, Wednesday, November 28 at the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco. 

The committee will kick off the hearing with a State of the State of the California Dungeness Crab Season, one of the oldest commercial fisheries in California, and what to expect on ocean conditions, domoic acid levels and crab quality in the months to come. Then they will transition into the robust efforts the State, Crab Fleet and numerous environmental organizations have been laser focused on: Protecting the Golden State’s majestic whales from entanglement. The committee will also be focused on the impacts large ships have been having on California whale populations.

Presenting at the Hearing are: 

Remarks from Agency and Department Leaders

• Deborah Halberstadt – Ocean Protection Council Executive Director/Deputy Secretary for Oceans and Coastal Policy, California Natural Resources Agency
• Charlton Bonham ­– Director, California Department of Fish and Wildlife

2018-19 Dungeness Crab Season: Domoic Acid and Quality Testing, and Disaster Relief Updates

• Dr. Craig Shuman – Manager, Marine Region, California Department of Fish and Wildlife
• Benson Yee – Chief, Food Safety Section, California Department of Public Health
• Noah Oppenheim – Executive Director, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations

Whale Entanglements and Ship Strikes: Briefing on Disentanglement Efforts and Ship Strike Concerns

• Scott Benson – Research Fisheries Biologist, Southwest Science Center, NOAA Fisheries
• Pieter Folkens – Primary Large Whale Disentangler, NOAA’s Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program
• Cotton Rockwood – Senior Marine Ecologist, Point Blue Conservation Science

Actions to Reduce Risks of Whale Entanglements from Fishing Activities  

• Kelly Sayce – Administrator, California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group
• Dr. Jarrod Santora – Associate Researcher, University of California Santa Cruz 
• Sonke Mastrup – Program Manager, Marine Region, California Department of Fish and Wildlife
• Dr. Geoff Shester – California Program Director, Oceana
• Dick Ogg – Commercial Fisherman, Bodega Bay, California

Litigation Update: Whale Entanglements in Fishing Gear

• Kristen Monsell – Oceans Program Litigation Director, Senior Attorney, Center for Biological Diversity
• Noah Oppenheim ­­– Executive Director, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations

Hearing details:

WHAT: Legislative Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture Hearing

WHEN: TOMORROW, Wednesday, November 28, beginning at 1 pm.

WHERE: Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco, Farallon Room, Pier 39, Embarcadero and Beach

WATCH LIVE: http://senate.ca.gov/

FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://fisheries.legislature.ca.gov/content/november-28-2018

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