Chapter 6. Disease Control of California Fish And Game Code >> Division 12. >> Chapter 6.

Upon the recommendation of the department and after consultation with the Aquaculture Disease Committee created pursuant to this chapter, the commission shall compile a list of diseases and parasites and the aquatic plants and animals they are known to infect or parasitize. All government activities relating to aquaculture disease detection, control, and eradication that do not affect human health and safety are the responsibility of the department.

The department may enter, under an inspection warrant issued pursuant to Title 5 (commencing with Section 1822.50) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, at any time, any car, warehouse, depot, ship, or growing area where any aquatic plants or animals are held or stored, for the purpose of making an examination to ascertain whether the aquatic plants or animals are infected, diseased, or parasitized.

The director, in consultation with the Aquaculture Industry Advisory Committee and the Interagency Committee for Aquaculture Development, shall appoint an 11-member Aquaculture Disease Committee consisting of at least six industry producers selected to represent geographic, specie, and other diverse aspects of the industry; two to represent the department; one to represent the Department of Food and Agriculture; an academic scientist who is an expert in aquatic diseases; and one representative of the University of California Cooperative Extension. Members of the committee shall serve without compensation, but shall be paid their necessary expenses.

The Aquaculture Disease Committee may recommend regulations to the commission designed to safeguard wild and cultured organisms from the list of harmful organisms compiled pursuant to Section 15500.

Regulations recommended under Section 15503 and adopted by the commission may include all of the following:
  (a) Routine monitoring procedures.
  (b) Standardized diagnostic procedures.
  (c) A requirement for the confirmation of the diagnosis by the state through at least one other independent and qualified laboratory.
  (d) Criteria for ordering quarantine, condemnation, or destruction.
  (e) A stated maximum time period between diagnosis and destruction.
  (f) Methods to be employed in animal destruction and facility cleanup.
  (g) Procedures for determining fair and rapid compensation.
  (h) Any other related procedures that the commission may determine are necessary.

If any of the diseases or parasites listed pursuant to Section 15500 is found to exist which the director, in consultation with the Aquaculture Disease Committee and consistent with the regulations adopted under Section 15504, deems to be detrimental to the aquaculture industry or to wild stocks of aquatic plants and animals, the director may do any of the following:
  (a) Establish the area to be quarantined and list the aquatic plants and animals affected by it.
  (b) Post notices describing, as nearly as possible, the boundaries of an area within which specific disease or parasite infestations are found. Notices posted pursuant to this subdivision shall be published once a week for four successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the infected area is located. If there is no newspaper of general circulation in that county, then the notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation published in an adjoining county.
  (c) Hold and impound diseased or parasitized plants and animals.
  (d) Forbid, prevent, or restrict the movement of all plants and animals subject to the disease or parasite from or into the area, or from place to place within it, during the existence of the quarantine.
  (e) Order the destruction and disposal of diseased or parasitized plants and animals consistent with Section 15504.

Except for those diseases in the list compiled pursuant to Section 15500, infected plants or animals shall not be quarantined or destroyed, unless the director, in consultation with the Aquaculture Disease Committee, finds that an outbreak of aquatic disease among privately cultured plants or animals presents a threat to the aquaculture industry or to fish life or plant life.

If the director, in consultation with the Aquaculture Disease Committee, finds that a disease is present in a nearby government operated facility or in nearby wild stocks, infected plants or animals in a private aquaculture facility shall not be quarantined or destroyed unless similar action is taken with respect to the government facility and wild stocks.

Reports of those diseases and parasites compiled pursuant to Section 15500 shall be immediately forwarded by the director to the Aquaculture Disease Committee and shall be promptly investigated by the department.

No person may move, or allow to be moved, any of the aquatic plants or animals which are subject to a quarantine established pursuant to Section 15505 across the quarantine line which is established, unless the person has first obtained a permit from the director authorizing the movement. The director may issue a permit after inspection, if the aquatic plants or animals, premises, transportation vehicles, and equipment which are subject to the quarantine established pursuant to Section 15505 are properly cleaned and disinfected.

If the director determines that any disease designated pursuant to Section 15500 exists among domestic aquatic plants and animals, or that aquatic plants and animals have been exposed, or may have been exposed, to the disease, or to the vectors of the disease, in any other state or territory in the United States or in any foreign country, and the importation of aquatic plants or animals from the state, territory, or foreign country may transmit, carry, or disseminate the disease to domestic plants and animals within this state, the director shall notify the commission which may, after consulting the State Department of Health Services and the Department of Food and Agriculture, issue a regulation restricting or prohibiting the importation of the diseased or infected aquatic plants or animals into this state from any other state, territory, or foreign country.

(a) If aquatic plants or animals are destroyed pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 15505, the owner shall be promptly paid from the General Fund an amount equal to 75 percent of the replacement value of the plants or animals, less the value determined by the department of any replacement stock provided by the department under subdivision (b) if the claim is submitted pursuant to Section 15513. If the replacement value is not settled between the owner and the department, the replacement value shall be determined by an appraiser appointed by the director and an appraiser appointed by the owner. Appraiser's fees shall be paid by the appointing party. Disputes between these two appraisers shall be submitted to arbitration under the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association.
  (b) If the department provides replacement stock to an aquaculturist whose plants or animals are destroyed pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 15505, the amount to be paid to the aquaculturist pursuant to this section shall be reduced by the value of the replacement stock, as determined by the department.
  (c) The result of the arbitration or the amount settled between the owner and the department, reduced by the value determined by the department of any replacement stock provided under subdivision (b), may be submitted as a claim by the owner to the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board pursuant to Section 15513.

Claims against the department arising under this chapter may be submitted pursuant to Section 905.2 of the Government Code.

No claim arising under this chapter shall be paid where the director, in consultation with the Aquaculture Disease Committee, finds that the claimant's management practices were negligent or in violation of law, and that the negligence or violation was the proximate cause of the disease or infection prompting the order of destruction or finds the claimant willfully violated any provision of Section 15505.

The owner of an aquaculture product who does not diligently pursue the eradication of a disease from its facility when ordered to do so by the director shall be responsible for paying to the director the full costs of the department for all disease eradication efforts conducted by the department to eradicate the disease. Payment of the costs under this section shall not excuse compliance with the provisions of law, regulations of the commission, and orders of the director, nor be a defense in any criminal or civil proceedings.