Martinet

*793 Opinion

Gary Steven Martinet appeals the denial of his petition for a writ of mandate ordering the California State Department of Fish and Game and the captain of its San Diego office, Rodney Shackelford, 1 to issue him a shark and swordfish drift gill net permit. We affirm.

I

Martinet has been a commercial fisherman for more than 10 years and a shark and swordfish fisherman since 1977. The boat he purchased in 1982 is exclusively a shark drift gill net vessel.

Martinet fished off" the Oregon and Washington coasts from the 1983 season until the middle of the 1984 season. At that time he hired a fisherman who had a shark drift gill net permit enabling him to fish in California waters. When his employee quit, Martinet was out of business until he was able to hire another fisherman with a permit. He may be faced with this problem again.

On March 4, 1985, Martinet obtained a general gill net permit. In April, he applied for a shark drift gill net permit. The Department denied his application because he did not qualify as a prior permittee (Fish & G. Code, 2 § 8568, subd. (a)) but forwarded Martinet’s application to the Long Beach office, which was to hold a lottery for the…