(a) The department shall conduct a drawing from the applicants determined to be eligible for new, original permits pursuant to Section 8244 on the first Friday in March of each year that new, original permits are authorized to be issued pursuant to Section 8243.
(b) (1) The department shall issue a permit to each of those applicants who are drawn upon payment of the fees prescribed in paragraph (2) for the permit and, except as provided in subdivision (d), submittal of sufficient information to establish that the applicant is the owner of a vessel within the vessel classification designated in the application.
(2) The amount of the fees for a permit issued under this section are the same as the amount of the fees for renewal of a permit for the subsequent license year beginning on April 1 that are established pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 8235. A successful applicant shall pay the fees for the permit on or before March 31. The department shall deposit the fees to the fund pursuant to Section 13001.
(c) Except as provided in subdivision (d), a successful applicant shall submit proof of ownership of the vessel to be used under the permit within 90 days of the drawing.
(d) (1) A successful applicant may request one extension of no more than 90 days to obtain a vessel as designated in the application. The department may grant that extension.
(2) If any successful applicant does not establish that the applicant is the owner of a vessel as designated in the application and affix the new permit on that vessel or on another vessel with the same or less fishing potential, as determined by the department, within 90 days or by the end of a 90 day extension granted by the department, the new permit is null and void.
(3) The department is not liable for any risk of failure by the applicant to obtain a vessel that is designated in an application or to complete the process for determination of the fishing potential of another vessel, or for failure by the applicant to obtain that other vessel, in the time prescribed in this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 472, Sec. 13. (SB 262) Effective January 1, 2020.)