Orca Welfare and Safety Act AB 2140 nicknamed Blackfish Bill

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2140, as amended, Bloom. Department of Fish and Wildlife: deputy director. Marine mammals: protection of orcas: unlawful activities.

(1) Existing law makes it unlawful to take any marine mammal, as defined, except as provided under specified federal laws.

This bill would make it unlawful to hold in captivity, or use, a wild-caught or captive-bred orca, as defined, for performance or entertainment purposes, as defined, to capture in state waters, or import from another state, any orca intended to be used for performance or entertainment purposes, to breed or impregnate an orca in captivity, or to export, collect, or import from another state the semen, other gametes, or embryos of an orca held in captivity for the purpose of artificial insemination, except as provided. The bill would make every person, corporation, or institution that violates those provisions guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $100,000 or by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 6 months, or by both the fine and imprisonment. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

INTERIM STUDY FOR ORCA BILL AB 2140

April 8, 2014 by Mark Palmer, Save Japan Dolphins

By Mark J. Palmer
Associate Director
International Marine Mammal Project
Earth Island Institute

The California Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee decided to punt today on the Orca Welfare and Safety Act, AB 2140.  The Committee, without holding a vote, decided to hold AB 2140 over until next year for an Interim Study.

Such a study could clarify issues around the bill, raise further public support and set the stage for action by the state legislature next year.  Or it could be a graveyard. 

The future of AB 2140 and orca captivity in California will be determined by how strongly the public insists that the bill be implemented.

There are several steps for an Interim Study.  It is likely there will be one or more public hearings to hear testimony in depth on the issues around orcas in captivity.   (This will provide an opportunity for the public to be involved by attending the hearings.)  Experts will be consulted, as will research studies relevant to orcas in captivity.

Today’s hearing was quite lively for a California Committee.  There were more than a hundred activists, many of whom gave their name in support of the bill in a long line-up.  One speaker flew in from Rome; another came from Olympia.  Dozens came from southern California all the way to Sacramento to support the bill.  Several Save Japan Dolphins Cove Monitors attended the hearing and spoke in favor of AB 2140, including Terran Baylor, Melissa Thompson Esaia, and Michael Reppy.  A number of television and newspaper reporters were in the room. 

And while those of us inside the hearing room were admonished not to applaud, loud cheers from those outside the hearing room were heard periodically.

Testimony in favor of the bill was grounded in science and experience.  Assemblymember Richard Bloom, author of AB 2140, gave a strong introductory speech in favor.  Also testifying in strong support were Dr. Naomi Rose of the Animal Welfare Institute and Dr. Deborah Giles of the University of California Davis.  Former SeaWorld trainer John Hargrove gave the most interesting and passionate presentation, expressing his own experiences with orcas in captivity and the damage he saw to these incredible animals.  His real-world experiences will be hard for SeaWorld to refute.

By contrast, the SeaWorld testimony focused on dollars given to San Diego by SeaWorld, character assassination of the speakers in favor, and false claims. 

The lobbyist for SeaWorld, Scott Welch, threatened that SeaWorld would move the orcas out of San Diego to another state even if the bill just advanced, before it became law.  He finished his testimony calling it a “silly silly bill.”  SeaWorld San Diego President John Reilly bluntly claimed the bill was simply “animal rights rhetoric and bias.”

So bad was the SeaWorld testimony that Assemblymember Mariko Yamada, by no means a supporter of the bill, scolded the SeaWorld claim that the bill was “silly,” stating that the two sides should work together to resolve the issue and not engage in name-calling.

(Last week at a SeaWorld briefing, lobbyist Scott Welch tried to throw Earth Island representatives out of the meeting because it was a “closed private meeting” but held in a public meeting room of the California state Capitol.  When we refused to leave the meeting, the lobbyist for SeaWorld said he would go to “security”.  “Either we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Welch said.  SeaWorld is reportedly paying him $10,000 a month to stop AB 2140.  He came back ten minutes later, and went around the room asking people in the audience which “legislative office” they represented.  One respondent stated he was a reporter with the Sacramento Bee, the major paper in Sacramento.  SeaWorld’s lobbyist again tried to get that reporter to leave, who also refused.  At that point he announced that media representatives could not ask any questions of SeaWorld staff.  He later backed off that claim, allowing media representatives to come forward after the presentation to interview SeaWorld staff.  The briefing consisted of feel-good endorsements of SeaWorld, having little to do with the legislation or the documentary Blackfish.)

At the end of the hearing, Chairman Anthony Rendon announced his support of the bill saying it was simply wrong to keep orcas in captivity and a moral issue for him.

Ric O’Barry, who is in Denmark visiting his family, watched the hearing online, and commented: "The delay is troublesome. SeaWorld is tremendously powerful. And in America the lobbyists lead and the politicians follow. That's the bad news.

“The good news,” Ric continued,”is that SeaWorld was finally dragged, kicking and screaming, to the table.  And in the process the general public is becoming educated.  An educated consumer is SeaWorld's worst enemy."

Earth Island will continue to support AB 2140 and work with the Assembly staff and members to make sure the Interim Study is on target and reveals the strong reasons why orcas should not be in captivity.

Special thanks to Assemblymember Richard Bloom and his staff for carrying AB 2140 and working the state Assembly very hard for passage.  You can send a letter thanking him to:

Assemblymember Richard Bloom, State Capitol, P.O. Box 942849, Room 2179, Sacramento, CA 94249-0050.

We would like to thank all who wrote letters and made calls to members of the Assembly, and to all those who came to Sacramento to help support the bill.

You are helping orcas tremendously, and we thank you!