Senators discuss SB420 to shift management of coastal fisheries to state control

Senators discussed Senate Bill 420 in the absence of its author, Senator Echols. The president pro tem and Senator Watson described SB420 as a proposal to allow the state to manage coastal fisheries within state waters rather than leaving management to federal authorities. "So my understanding is this would allow the state to manage the fisheries on the coast, instead of the federal government that are within our, waters," one speaker said in the meeting record. Senator Watson added that the change "goes along with other states that do that, too, to our North and to our South, and actually in The Gulf, too," saying it would put the state "on par with them."

Members treated the bill as both a fisheries-management and economic-development issue in the discussion recorded in the transcript. The author, Senator Echols, was not present to present the bill during this session. The transcript does not record a formal motion or vote on SB420 in this excerpt; members expressed support for placing it on the Senate floor for consideration the next day.

The transcript includes light banter among members and no technical fisheries detail, statutory citation, or formal roll-call vote within the excerpt. The record notes the bill was added to the floor list for consideration the following day.