Section 7072.

(a) Fishery management plans shall form the primary basis for managing California's sport and commercial marine fisheries.

(b) Fishery management plans shall be based on the best scientific information that is available, on other relevant information that the department possesses, or on the scientific information or other relevant information that can be obtained without substantially delaying the preparation of the plan.

(c) To the extent that conservation and management measures in a fishery management plan either increase or restrict the overall harvest or catch in a fishery, fishery management plans shall allocate those increases or restrictions fairly among recreational and commercial sectors participating in the fishery.

(d) Consistent with Article 17 (commencing with Section 8585), the commission shall adopt a fishery management plan for the nearshore fishery on or before January 1, 2002, if funds are appropriated for that purpose in the annual Budget Act or pursuant to any other law.

(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 559, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 2003.)