(a) The owner of a Dungeness crab vessel, for purposes of this section, may include a person with a bona fide contract for the purchase of a vessel who otherwise meets all other qualifications for a Dungeness crab vessel permit. If a contract is found to be fraudulent or written or entered into for the purposes of circumventing qualification criteria for the issuance of a permit, the applicant shall be permanently ineligible for a Dungeness crab vessel permit.

(b) A Dungeness crab vessel permit shall be issued only to the person owning the vessel at the time of application for that permit. A person shall not be issued more than one permit for each vessel owned by that person and qualifying for a permit pursuant to this article.

(c) A Dungeness crab vessel permit shall be issued only to the owner of a vessel taking crab by traps. A permit shall not be issued to the owner of a vessel using trawl or other nets unless the owner of that vessel qualifies for a permit pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 8280.1, as that section read on August 1, 2018, or any prior version of that paragraph. A trawl or other net vessel authorized under this code to take Dungeness crab incidental to the taking of fish in trawl or other nets shall not be required to possess a Dungeness crab vessel permit.

(d) Dungeness crab vessel permits shall not be combined or otherwise aggregated for the purpose of replacing smaller vessels in the fishery with a larger vessel, and a permit shall not be divided or otherwise separated for the purpose of replacing a vessel in the fishery with two or more smaller vessels.

(e) Applications for renewal of all Dungeness crab vessel permits shall be received by the department, or, if mailed, postmarked, by April 30 of each year. In order for a vessel to retain eligibility, a permit shall be obtained each year subsequent to the initial permit year and the vessel shall be registered pursuant to Section 7881. The vessel owner shall have a valid commercial fishing license issued to that person pursuant to Section 7852 that has not been suspended or revoked. Minimum landings of Dungeness crab shall not be required annually to be eligible for a Dungeness crab vessel permit.

(f) This section shall become inoperative on April 1, 2029, and, as of January 1, 2030, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2030, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 663, Sec. 10. (SB 1310) Effective September 21, 2018. Inoperative April 1, 2029. Repealed as of January 1, 2030, by its own provisions.)