Title FAC — California Food & Agric. Code

Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this article govern the construction of this chapter.

“Commission” means the California Sea Urchin Commission.

“Fiscal year” means from April 1 of a year to March 31 of the next succeeding year.

“Diver” means an individual licensed to commercially harvest fish pursuant to Section 7850 of the Fish and Game Code, and who in addition holds a valid sea urchin diving permit.

“Handler” means any individual or person working for any individual or business entity licensed as one of the following who can document that they are substantially engaged in the California commercial sea urchin fishery: (a) A receiver licensed pursuant to Section 8033 of the Fi…

“Sea urchin” means the following species of fish: (a) Red sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus). (b) Purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus). (c) Any other species of sea urchin authorized for commercial landing in the state.

“Sea urchin fishery” means any activity, including economic activity, involved in the harvesting, receiving, processing, manufacturing, or distributing of sea urchin, parts of sea urchin, or products therefrom, for commercial purposes.

There is in the state government the California Sea Urchin Commission. The commission shall be composed of 11 voting members, including five sea urchin handlers, five sea urchin divers, and one public member, and may include any number of nonvoting members, at the discretion of t…

(a) The secretary may require the commission to correct or cease any existing activity or function that is determined by the secretary not to be in the public interest or that is in violation of this chapter. (b) If the commission refuses or fails to cease those activities or fun…

The commission or the secretary may bring an action for judicial relief from the secretary’s written notice, or from noncompliance by the commission with the written notice, as the case may be, in a court of competent jurisdiction, which may issue a temporary restraining order, p…

When the secretary is required to concur in a decision of the commission, the secretary shall give his or her response to the commission within 15 working days from notification of the decision. The secretary’s response may be a requirement that additional information be provided…

The commission shall reimburse the secretary for all expenditures incurred by the secretary in carrying out his or her duties and responsibilities pursuant to this chapter. However, a court may, if it finds that the secretary acted arbitrarily or capriciously in restricting the a…

Except for nonvoting members, alternates for regular members may be elected in the same manner as members. An alternate shall, in the absence of the member for whom he or she is substituting, serve in place of a member and shall have and be able to exercise all the rights, privil…

Any vacancy on the commission occurring by the failure of any person elected to the commission as a member or alternate to continue in his or her position due to a change in status making him or her ineligible to serve, or due to death, removal or resignation, shall be filled by …

Any vacancy on the commission occurring by the failure of the public member to continue in his or her position due to a change in status making him or her ineligible to serve, or due to death, removal, resignation, or disqualification, shall be filled by another eligible person f…

(a) (1) Any handler member and his or her alternate on the commission shall be an individual handler or an employee or representative of one or more handlers who have an ownership interest in a handling facility or who can document a substantial financial interest in processing o…

(a)Any diver member and his or her alternate on the commission shall be an individual diver who has documented landings of sea urchin in the previous commercial fishing license year. Qualifications of diver members and their alternates shall be maintained during their entire term…

The public member and his or her alternate member on the commission shall have all the powers, rights, and privileges of any other member or alternate, respectively, on the commission. The public member and his or her alternate member shall not have any financial interest in the …

(a) The term of office of all members and alternates on the commission, except nonvoting members, shall be two years from the beginning of the fishery season in the year of their election and may serve not more than two consecutive terms. Following the final term, a member may se…

The commission shall be, and is hereby declared and created, a corporate body. It shall have the power to sue and be sued, to contract and be contracted with, and to have and possess all of the powers of a corporation. It may adopt a corporate seal. Copies of its proceedings, rec…

A quorum of the commission shall be six voting members, including at least two handlers and two divers. Except as provided in Section 79143, the vote of a majority of members present at a meeting at which there is a quorum shall constitute the act of the commission.

The secretary or his or her representative shall be notified and may attend each meeting of the commission and any committee meetings of the commission. However, the secretary or his or her representative is not entitled to attend an executive session of the commission or a commi…

No member or alternate of the commission or member of a committee established by the commission who is a nonmember of the commission shall receive a salary. Each member of the commission and each alternate serving in place of a member, except nonvoting members who are officers or…

(a) All funds received by the commission or an agent of the commission from the assessments levied under this chapter or otherwise received by the commission shall be deposited in accounts that the commission may designate and the secretary shall approve. Commission funds shall b…

The state is not liable for the acts of the commission or its contracts. Payments of all claims arising by reason of the administration of this chapter or acts of the commission are limited to the funds collected by the commission. No member or alternate of the commission, or any…

The commission may adopt and from time to time alter, rescind, modify, and amend all proper and necessary bylaws, rules, regulations, and orders in accordance with commission procedures for purposes of carrying out this chapter, including rules for appeals from any bylaw, rule, r…

The commission may administer and enforce this chapter and do and perform all acts and exercise all powers incidental to, or in connection with, or deemed reasonably necessary, to promote and maintain the sea urchin commercial fishing industry.

The commission may appoint its own officers, including a chairperson, one or more vice chairpersons, and such other officers as it deems necessary. The officers shall have the powers and duties delegated to them by the commission.

The commission may employ a person or firm to serve at the pleasure of the commission as executive officer of the commission, and other personnel, including legal counsel of its choice, necessary to carry out this chapter. If any person employed by the commission engages in any c…

The commission may fix the compensation for all employees of the commission.

The commission may appoint committees composed of both members and nonmembers of the commission to advise the commission in carrying out this chapter.

The commission may establish offices and incur expenses, enter into any and all contracts and agreements, create liabilities, and borrow funds in advance of receipt of assessments as may be necessary in the opinion of the commission for the proper administration and enforcement o…

The commission shall keep accurate books, records, and accounts of all of its dealings, which shall be subject to an annual audit by an auditing entity or firm selected by the commission with the concurrence of the secretary. A summary of the audit shall be reported to all person…

The commission may present facts to, and negotiate with, state, federal, and foreign agencies on matters that affect the sea urchin commercial fishing industry.

(a) The commission may carry out industry educational programs with respect to proper methods of handling and preserving the quality of sea urchin to protect the public health, the economic viability of the fishery, and employee and diver safety and may conduct market surveys and…

The commission may conduct, or contract with others to conduct, scientific research, including the study, analysis, dissemination, and accumulation of information obtained from research or elsewhere, regarding the importance and methods for maintaining a sustainable sea urchin fi…

The commission may enter into contracts to acquire and render services in preparing plans and conducting programs and other contracts or agreements that the commission may deem necessary for carrying out this chapter.

The commission may accept contributions of, or match private, state, or federal funds, and employ or make contributions of funds to other persons or state or federal agencies for purposes of promoting and maintaining the sea urchin fishery.

The commission may collect information, including, but not limited to, fishery landing statistics, and publish and distribute without charge, a bulletin, newsletter, or other communication to persons subject to this chapter.

The commission shall establish an assessment rate to defray operating costs of the commission.

(a) The commission shall establish an annual budget and maintain records of expenditures according to generally accepted accounting practices. The budget shall be concurred in by the secretary prior to disbursement of funds, except for ongoing disbursements made in relation to em…

The commission shall submit to the secretary for his or her concurrence an annual statement of contemplated activities authorized pursuant to this chapter.

The commission and the secretary shall keep confidential and shall not disclose, except when required by court order after a hearing in a judicial proceeding, all lists of persons subject to this chapter in their possession. However, the commission shall establish procedures to p…

The commission may investigate and prosecute civil violations of this chapter and file complaints with appropriate law enforcement agencies or officers for suspected criminal violations of this chapter.

The commission may administer any government program engaged in the activities authorized by this chapter and that directly affects the sea urchin fishery, upon the request of an authorized agent of the program.

The commission may approve payment of a stipend to commission members of not more than one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125) for each day a member is on official commission business pursuant to Section 79055, not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) in any single month.

(a) Within 60 days of the effective date of this chapter, the secretary shall establish a list of divers and handlers eligible to vote on implementation of this chapter. In establishing the list, the secretary may require that divers and handlers submit the names and mailing addr…

This chapter, except as necessary to conduct an implementation referendum vote, shall not become operative until the secretary finds at least one of the following in a referendum vote conducted by the secretary: (a) At least 40 percent of the total number of divers from the list …

(a) The secretary shall establish a period in which to conduct the referendum, which shall not be less than 10 days or more than 60 days in duration, and may prescribe additional procedures necessary to conduct the referendum, including measures to maximize the likelihood that al…

(a) If the secretary finds that a favorable vote has been given, pursuant to Section 79101, the secretary shall certify and give notice of the favorable vote to all affected divers and handlers whose names and addresses are on file with the secretary. (b) If the secretary finds t…