(a) The owner of each aquaculture facility shall register all of the following information with the department by March 1 of each year:

(1) The owner’s name.

Terms Used In California Fish and Game Code 15101

  • Aquaculture: means that form of agriculture devoted to the propagation, cultivation, maintenance, and harvesting of aquatic plants and animals in marine, brackish, and fresh water. See California Fish and Game Code 17
  • Department: means the Department of Fish and Wildlife. See California Fish and Game Code 37
  • Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Fish and Game Code 73
  • Wildlife: means and includes all wild animals, birds, plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and related ecological communities, including the habitat upon which the wildlife depends for its continued viability. See California Fish and Game Code 89.5

(2) The species grown.

(3) The location or locations of each operation or operations.

(b) The department may provide registration forms for this purpose, may establish a procedure for the review of the information provided to ensure that the operation will not be detrimental to native wildlife, and shall impose a registration fee of eight hundred dollars ($800) to recover the cost of reviewing new registrations. For renewing registrations, the department shall impose a registration fee of five hundred dollars ($500). It is unlawful to conduct aquaculture operations or to culture approved species of aquatic plants and animals unless registered under this section. The registration fees specified in this section are applicable to the 2013 registration year and shall be adjusted annually thereafter pursuant to Section 713.

(c) The annual registration of information required by subdivision (a) is not a project for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).

(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2025, and as of that date is repealed.

(Amended (as amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 307, Sec. 2) by Stats. 2023, Ch. 876, Sec. 19. (SB 500) Effective January 1, 2024. Repealed as of January 1, 2025, by its own provisions. See later operative version, as amended by Sec. 20 of Stats. 2023, Ch. 876.)