Comment Log Display

My name is Ernie Prieto, and I am owner of Chubasco Sportfishing in
Oceanside.  I have spent my entire adult life building my dream of
fishing for a living.  I have managed to support a family and build
a successful small business for myself.  I feel that requiring
commercial passenger fishing vessels to move to Tier 4
engines are not economically, technologically, or financially
feasible. With this new Bill you are trying to put into place, the
regulations as drafted require technology that has not been
developed or proven safe at sea, and consequently are economically
and structurally impossible to comply with - requiring boats
constructed of wood/fiberglass to be removed from service as soon
as 2031. 
Our industry strongly supports clean air initiatives but this
proposal will force most CPFV owners to go out of
business. The economic impact alone would be devastating. We
support local tourism, create jobs, and provide to charities for
the local Veterans, underserved youth, first responders and gold
star families.
As a result, many low to middle income California families
will lose their access to the Pacific ocean's resources-food,
healthy outdoor recreation and student marine environmental
education opportunities.
Historically, CARB has regulated commercial fishing/whale watching
boats and commercial passenger boats the same way - their engines
are technically identical. CARB's proposed regulations apply a
double standard with commercial fishing boats subject to
substantially less stringent and less costly requirements. CARB
should return passenger boats to the same vessel category as
commercial fishing boats so that you can continue to transition to
lower emission engines as it is economically feasible, and
technology becomes available.


Sincerely,

Ernest Prieto 

Chubasco Sportfishing