Title FGC — California Fish & Game Code

Every person engaged in harvesting kelp or other aquatic plants for profit in the waters of this State shall have a license for that purpose. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

(a) A license granting the privilege to harvest kelp or other aquatic plants shall be issued upon application and the payment of a fee of one hundred dollars ($100) to the department. The license shall be valid from January 1 to December 31, inclusive, or, if issued after the beg…

(a) Every person engaged in harvesting kelp shall determine the weight of all wet kelp, immediately after it is delivered to the licensee’s place of business or elsewhere. The weight shall be entered in a book to be kept by the licensee. The book shall be open at all times to the…

The commission may make such regulations as may be necessary to insure the proper harvesting of kelp and other aquatic plants. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

(a) The department may issue permits for the drying of agar-bearing marine plants subject to the regulations the commission may prescribe to provide for proper utilization of that resource. (b) No person shall dry agar-bearing marine plants for profit unless the person has a perm…

If, at any time, the commission finds that the harvesting of kelp will tend to destroy or impair any kelp bed or beds, or parts thereof, or tend to impair or destroy the supply of any food for fish, the department shall serve on every person licensed to harvest kelp a written not…

Within 10 days after the service of such a notice, the person upon whom notice is served may demand a hearing upon the necessity for the closing of the kelp bed or beds, or parts thereof. Upon such demand for a hearing, the commission shall fix a time and place for the taking of …

(a) The commission may revoke a license and prohibit its reissuance for a period of not more than one year, in either of the following circumstances: (1) The licensee harvested kelp from a bed that was closed, after the department served notice of the closure on the licensee and …

The commission may, subject to regulations it deems proper, grant permits to any department of the United States Government or to any scientific or any educational institution, to harvest kelp at any time for scientific or experimental purposes without the payment of the kelp lic…

In addition to the license fee provided for in this chapter, every person harvesting kelp or other aquatic plants shall pay a royalty, as the commission may prescribe, of not less than five cents ($0.05) per ton of wet kelp or wet aquatic plants harvested. Any revenues derived fr…

The commission may lease to any person the exclusive privilege to harvest kelp in any designated kelp bed, or part thereof, if the commission determines that the lease is in the public interest. The commission shall describe the kelp beds of the state and adopt regulations for th…

Persons wishing to lease the exclusive privilege to harvest kelp shall submit a written application to the commission. An application shall include all of the following, and any other information the commission may prescribe: (a) The number of the kelp bed or beds to be leased. (…

A deposit of not less than forty dollars ($40) for each square mile, or fraction thereof, of the total area of the kelp bed or beds which are designated in the application shall be submitted with the application. The deposit shall be refunded to the person making the application …

(a) If the commission finds that the kelp beds included in the application are available for lease and that the lease would be in the public interest, the commission shall publish a notice that the area is being considered for leasing. (b) The commission shall have legal notices …

The initial term of a lease for the exclusive privilege of harvesting kelp shall not exceed 20 years. No lessee shall have an exclusive lease, excluding subleases, to an area in excess of 25 square miles or 50 percent of the total area of the kelp resource as shown on the maps of…

(a) Each kelp bed lease shall specify a period prior to expiration when renewal of the lease may be requested by the lessee. If the commission determines that the lessee has complied with the terms of the lease, the lessee shall have a prior right to renew the lease on terms agre…

Notwithstanding Sections 6703 and 6704, at any time during the term of a lease, the commission and the lessee may negotiate and enter into a new lease on terms agreed upon between the two parties, if the commission determines that such a new lease would be in the best interest of…

(a) Each lease shall require, in addition to the license fee required by this chapter, a payment by the lessee or any sublessee of not less than the minimum royalty established under Article 2 (commencing with Section 6680), for all kelp harvested from the lease area, and shall p…

A lease may not be assigned, in whole or in part, by the lessee, either voluntarily or by operation of law, and no subleases or other rights may be granted thereunder by the lessee without the prior approval of the commission, subject to the conditions that the commission prescri…

A lease, or any renewal thereof, shall be submitted to, and approved by, the Department of General Services.

When an exclusive privilege to harvest kelp has been granted by lease by the commission, the commission shall furnish a true copy thereof to the department. The department shall file a notice for record in the recorder’s office of the county in which the kelp bed or beds, or part…

The department shall inform the State Lands Commission of all kelp bed leases executed pursuant to this chapter, and shall furnish the State Lands Commission with the information concerning these leases that it may require.

The commission may regulate the taking, collecting, harvesting, gathering, or possession of kelp for purposes other than profit.

The provisions of Article 1 (commencing with Section 6650), Article 2 (commencing with Section 6680), and Article 3 (commencing with Section 6700) of this chapter do not apply to the taking, collecting, harvesting, gathering, or possession of kelp under this article.