BILL NUMBER: AB 1217INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Monning FEBRUARY 27, 2009 An act to add Section 35617 to the Public Resources Code, relating to ocean resources. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1217, as introduced, Monning. Ocean Protection Council: sustainable seafood. The California Ocean Protection Act establishes the Ocean Protection Council in state government and provides that the council consists of the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, the Secretary for Environmental Protection, the Chair of the State Lands Commission, and 2 public members appointed by the Governor. The act requires the council, among other things, to coordinate activities of state agencies that are related to the protection and conservation of coastal waters and ocean ecosystems and to establish policies to coordinate the collection and sharing of scientific data related to coast and ocean resources between agencies. This bill would require the council, by September 30, 2010, to develop and consider the adoption of criteria to certify local, sustainable California seafood and to develop procedures, a marketing emblem, and an organizational structure to implement the certification program with specified goals. The bill would also authorize the council to implement the certification program in cooperation with a qualified marketing association to promote the consumption of seafood sustainably caught or raised within the state. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 35617 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read: 35617. By September 30, 2010, the council shall develop and consider the adoption of criteria to certify local, sustainable California seafood. The council shall develop procedures, a marketing emblem, and an organizational structure to implement the certification program. The goals of the certification process shall include, but are not limited to, creating economic incentives for sustainable fishing practices and economic support for the state's commercial fishing industry, its ports, and its harbors. The council may implement the certification program in cooperation with a qualified marketing association to promote the consumption of seafood sustainably caught or raised within California.