(a)
The Legislature finds and declares that the fishery for market squid (Loligo opalescens) is the state’s largest fishery by volume, generating millions of dollars of income to the state annually from domestic and foreign sales. In addition to supporting an important commercial fishery, the market squid resource is important to the recreational fishery and is forage for other fish taken for commercial and recreational purposes, as well as for marine mammals, birds, and other marine life. The growing international market for squid and declining squid production from other parts of the world has resulted in an increased demand for California market squid, which, in turn, has led to newer, larger, and more efficient vessels entering the fishery and increased processing capacity.
(b)
The Legislature finds that the lack of research on market squid and the lack of annual at-sea surveys to determine the status of the resource, combined with the increased demand for, and fishing effort on, market squid could result in overfishing of the resource, damaging the resource, and financially harming those persons engaged in the taking, landing, processing, and sale of market squid.
(c)
The Legislature further finds that some individuals, vessels, and processing plants engaged in the market squid fishery have no other viable alternative fisheries available to them and that a decline or a loss of the market squid resource would cause economic devastation to the individuals or corporations engaged in the market squid fishery.
(d)
The Legislature declares that to prevent excessive fishing effort in the market squid fishery and to develop a plan for the sustainable harvest of market squid, it is necessary to adopt and implement a fishery management plan for the California market squid fishery that sustains both the squid population and the marine life that depends on squid.
(e)
The Legislature finds that a sustainable California market squid fishery can best be ensured through ongoing oversight and management of the fishery by the commission. With regard to the market squid fishery, the Legislature urges that any limited entry component of a fishery management plan, if necessary, should be adopted for the primary purpose of protecting the resource and not simply for the purpose of diminishing or advancing the economic interests of any particular individual or group.