Nothing is more disappointing than spending, say, $200,000 to keep a sturgeon happily swimming in the river for 20 years only to find the fish gutted and splayed out for sale in the back of a mall parking lot. If you're going to poach a sturgeon and sell its eggs for $100 an ounce, at least you should have to pay more than $100 back to the public when you get caught.

Sturgeon are, of course, the source of caviar and with rules tightening on imported caviar the domestic caviar industry has taken off. Sturgeon farms hate poachers too, and they're often secreted away in the country in unmarked locations with heavy security. Poachers break into their tanks and steal their fish, too.

Which is why we were able to get an impressive coalition of aquaculturists, sportsmen and conservationists to support Assembly Bill 1187, a bill that passed out of the California Legislature in the wee hours of the last day of session. We got a unanimous vote out of the Senate, at a time when party line votes are the norm. It's not easy to catch poachers, and all too often overworked county courts don't prioritize these cases because wildlife theft isn't considered a 'serious crime' (something the ACLU apparently agrees with). But in the apt words of my friend Mark Powell: "It's bad, and they should stop."

Now stealing sturgeon or lobster nets you a misdemeanor with a stiff fine, possible jail time, and the loss of your poaching gear. I got the idea for the bill after watching fishermen and wardens testify about the strict catch limits in place for California white and green sturgeon (which are ESA listed and you can't keep one at all) and the rampant poaching that was undermining those limits. Even after a career in politics, I still believe that most people want to do the right thing and the trick is stopping the few that don't. I also really thought someone would make us change the name of the bill, but it looks like most people also still have a sense of humor.