Amend Sections 29.80, 29.90, 29.91, 121, 121.5, 122, 122.1, 122.2 and 705, Title 14, California Code of Regulations

2023040666

California Fish and Game Commission (CDFGC)

NOE - Notice of Exemption

4/26/2023

4/26/2023

Melissa Miller-Henson

California Fish and Game Commission

Executive Director

Lead/Public Agency

PO Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 94244-2090

(916) 653-4899

FGC@fgc.ca.gov

State ocean waters

Categorical Exemption

14 CCR 15307 & 15308

In compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA; Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq.), the Commission adopted the regulations relying on the categorical exemptions contained in CEQA Guidelines, Title 14, sections 15307 (Class 7, Action by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of Natural Resources) and 15308 (Class 8, Action by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of the Environment). The exemptions apply to agency actions to protect natural resources and the environment. The amendments will improve the enforcement of existing rules that were adopted to help safeguard the sustainability of spiny lobster resources and the surrounding marine ecosystem. For example, prohibiting the use of hoop nets in southern California right before the start of the recreational spiny lobster season helps prevent individuals from taking spiny lobsters before the start of the season. The new start time for the recreational spiny lobster season will help law enforcement more efficiently and safely deploy its resources. Clarifying when spiny lobsters must be measured for recreational anglers and commercial lobster operators, as well as the new marking requirement for commercial lobster receivers will improve enforcement of the minimum size limit and reduce take of undersize lobsters. The new requirements for in-season retrieval of lost traps by commercial operators will reduce trap theft/loss and any associated habitat impact. Various changes to the use of hoop nets, namely the additional prescription of allowed hoop net configuration and the extension of hoop net marking requirements to northern California, are designed to mitigate entanglement risk for protected marine life. Preventing hoop nets from becoming more trap-like will ensure that anglers continue to actively tend to this gear as opposed to leaving them in the water like they would for traps. The marking requirement will help enforcement officers hold anglers accountable for their gear. The regulations will help facilitate enforcement of existing rules that were in turn adopted to protect the spiny lobster resource and the surrounding marine environment. The regulations will also aid efforts to reduce entanglement risk for marine life. As such, the action is an activity that is the proper subject of CEQA’s Class 7 and Class 8 categorical exemptions.