§ 8125 Groundfish Fishery Buyback Fund

• •There is a special account called the Commercial Fisheries Capacity Reduction Account to help California fishermen.
• •Money for this account comes from fees collected under Section 8126.
• •The money is used to pay back federal loans that helped reduce the number of fishing boats in the West Coast Groundfish Fishery.
• •The state can make additional rules to match federal laws so California fishermen can join the federal buy-back program.

A fisherman named John wants to sell his boat as part of a program to reduce the number of fishing boats.

The money from the Commercial Fisheries Capacity Reduction Account helps pay back the federal loan that makes this buy-back program possible. This way, John and other fishermen can get money for their boats and stop fishing, which helps protect fish numbers.