Gavin Newsom, the governor of the U.S. state of California, has signed a bill into law that ends the use of gillnets in state waters.
Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1056 into law on 13 October, phasing out the use of drift gillnets in California’s waters. The bill – sponsored by NGOs Oceana and the Resource Renewal Institute – limits the ability of remaining fishers with gillnet permits to transfer them, phasing out the fishery as they retire.
The bill, introduced by California Assemblymember Steve Bennett, was the latest attempt to limit the use of gillnets in the state’s waters. Bennett also introduced a bill in 2024 – Assembly Bill 2220 – to extend a ban on gillnet fishing to 3 miles from the shore of California’s Channel Islands, one of the last places in state waters the nets are still used, but that bill ended up being canceled in committee.
Both the recently passed bill and the failed Assembly Bill 2220 built on another earlier federal bill which was designed to phase out large-mesh drift gillnets in federal waters by 2027. Between the federal bill and Assembly Bill 1056, gillnets will be phased out in California’s waters.
“California’s biodiverse underwater ecosystems are world-renowned, and we must do our part to keep it that way,” Bennett said in a release. “In my district, the Channel Islands Biosphere Reserve is recognized by UNESCO as one of the last examples of natural Southern California coastal ecosystems. A healthy ocean is critical to community well-being and is the foundation of multi-million-dollar fishing and tourism industries. AB 1056 provides a fair and just transition to both fishermen and the fisheries affected.”
Under existing California state law, the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife is prohibited from issuing any new permits for gillnets, but existing permit holders could continue to transfer their viable permits upon either the disability or death of the original permit holder. The newly passed Assembly Bill 1056 removes that provision and allows for just one more permit transfer to a family member, prohibiting any further transfers even on a permitholder’s death.
The bill effectively makes current permitholders in California the last legal users of gillnets, and once those fishers retire, it will be banned in state and federal waters.
Oceana Campaign Manager and Marine Scientist Caitlynn Birch called the bill a “balanced, forward-looking approach” to fisheries in the state.
“We thank Assemblymember Bennett for championing this effort, the legislature for advancing it, and Governor Newsom for signing it into law. Together, we are securing a sustainable future for California’s ocean ecosystems and the people and wildlife that rely on them,” Birch said.
