Title FGC — California Fish & Game Code

(a) Any allowance for the commercial taking of crayfish in Lake Tahoe or in the Lake Tahoe Basin shall be for the primary purpose of population reduction and control of the signal crayfish, an invasive species. The commercial taking of crayfish may be allowed only to the extent t…

The department shall take the steps it determines are necessary to prevent overfishing of crayfish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Those steps may include, but are not limited to, submitting to the Legislature proposed legislation to place limitations on the commercial crayf…

(a) Any vessel using bottom trawl gear in state-managed halibut fisheries, as described in subdivision (a) of Section 8841, shall possess a valid California halibut bottom trawl vessel permit that has not been suspended or revoked and that is issued by the department authorizing …

(a) The following areas are designated as the California halibut trawl grounds: (1) The ocean waters lying between one and three nautical miles from the mainland shore lying south and east of a line running due west (270° true) from Point Arguello and north and west of a line run…

(a) Unless otherwise specified by the commission pursuant subdivision (b), within the California halibut trawl grounds the following requirements shall apply to the use of trawl nets: (1) Open season and hours of operation shall be as follows: (A) Open season shall be June 16 to …

If the director determines that the California halibut resource, or existing fishing operations, within the designated California halibut trawl grounds are in danger of irreparable injury, he or she may order the closure of the area, or portions thereof, to trawl net fishing or f…

The director shall, from time to time, employ or appoint, with or without pay, such deputies, clerks, assistants, and other employees as the department may need to discharge in proper manner the duties imposed upon it by law. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

Except as otherwise expressly permitted in this chapter, no mollusks, crustaceans, or other invertebrates may be taken, possessed aboard a boat, or landed for commercial purposes by any person in any tide pool or tidal area, including tide flats or other areas between the high ti…

A deputy appointed to enforce the provisions of this code is a peace officer. The deputy has all the powers and authority conferred by law upon peace officers listed in Section 830.6 of the Penal Code to make arrests for violations of this code, and may serve all processes and no…

It is unlawful to take or land krill of any species of euphausiid for any purpose except scientific research pursuant to regulations adopted by the commission. This section applies to krill in the waters of this state and up to 200 miles offshore, as long as federal law does not …

(a) The director may deputize any employee of the department to check persons for licenses required under Section 7145 and to enforce any violation of that section. (b) Before a person is deputized pursuant to this section for the first time, the person shall have satisfactorily …

Notwithstanding Section 18932 of the Government Code, the minimum age limit for appointment to the position of fish and game warden of the department shall be 18 years. An examination for the position of warden shall require a demonstration of the physical ability to effectively …

Regularly employed law enforcement officers of the department may, when authorized by the director, expend such sums as authorized for the purchase of fish, birds, or mammals as evidence, or for expenditures related to the procurement of such evidence, or for expenditures made to…

Herring may be taken for commercial purposes only under a permit, subject to regulations adopted by the commission. The commission may, whenever necessary to prevent overutilization, to ensure efficient and economic operation of the fishery, or to otherwise carry out this article…

(a) A herring net permit granting the privilege to take herring with nets for commercial purposes shall be issued to licensed commercial fishermen, subject to regulations adopted under Section 8550, as follows: (1) To any resident of this state to use gill nets, upon payment of a…

(a) It is unlawful to take herring for roe on a vessel unless the operator holds a herring permit issued by the department pursuant to commission regulations. The permit may be transferred pursuant to Sections 8552.2 and 8552.6. (b) No person may be issued more than one herring p…

The commission, in consultation with the department and representatives of the commercial roe herring fishery, and after holding at least one public hearing, may adjust the fees charged for permits; including fees for the issuance or transfer of permits, to a level that will not …

Notwithstanding Section 1052, a herring permit may be transferred from a herring permitholder to a nonpermitholder having a minimum of 20 or more herring fishery points, as follows: The permitholder shall mail, by certified or registered mail, to the department and every individu…

The commission may, in consultation with representatives of the commercial herring roe fishery, and after holding at least one public hearing, adopt regulations intended to facilitate the transfer of herring permits, including, but not limited to, regulations that would do the fo…

Herring permits that are revoked or not renewed may be offered by the department for a drawing to persons having 20 or more experience points in the fishery on the first Friday of August of each year.

The commission shall revoke any herring permit if the holder of the herring permit was convicted of failing to report herring landings or underreported herring landings or failed to correctly file with the department the offer or the acceptance for a permit transferred pursuant t…

(a) Notwithstanding Section 8552, a herring permit may be issued to two individuals if one of the following criteria is met: (1) The individuals are married to each other and file with the department a certified copy of their certificate of marriage and a declaration under penalt…

(a) Upon the death of a herring permittee, the permit shall vest in the permittee’s estate or in the surviving community estate, and may be transferred by the executor, administrator, personal representative, or surviving spouse to a qualified pointholder pursuant to Section 8552…

The department shall reissue a herring permit which has been transferred pursuant to Section 8552.2 or 8552.6 upon payment of a transfer fee by the transferee of the permit. Before April 1, 1997, the transfer fee is two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), and, on and after Ap…

(a) For purposes of this article, the experience points for a person engaged in the herring roe fishery shall be based on the number of years holding a commercial fishing license and the number of years having served as a crewmember in the herring roe fishery, and determined by t…

The commission may make and enforce such regulations as may be necessary or convenient for carrying out any power, authority, or jurisdiction conferred under this article.

The commission, in adopting regulations for the commercial herring fishery, shall provide for the temporary substitution of a permittee to take herring, if the permittee is ill or injured, by a crewmember aboard the vessel operated by the permittee. The commission may require tha…

The director shall periodically meet and confer with representatives of the commercial herring roe fishery to review regulations and policies of the commission and the department concerning that fishery and to receive recommendations on the regulation and management of that fishe…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commission shall determine, by regulation, if drift or set gill nets may be used to take herring for commercial purposes. The commission may also determine, by regulation, the size of the meshes of the material used to make such gil…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commission shall determine if round haul nets may be used to take herring in Districts 12 and 13 and the conditions under which those nets may be used.

The commission, in determining experience requirements for new entrants into the herring fishery after January 1, 1987, shall require that any person seeking a permit to operate a vessel to take herring and claiming crew experience shall demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the de…

(a) All employees of the department designated by the director as deputized law enforcement officers are peace officers as provided by Section 830.2 of the Penal Code. The authority of that peace officer extends to any place in the state as to a public offense committed or which …

(a) The department may install patrol vehicle mounted video and audio systems, commonly known as dashboard cameras, in patrol vehicles used by peace officers described in Section 856. A peace officer described in Section 856 may use the patrol vehicle mounted video and audio syst…

(a) Notwithstanding Section 8394, shark and swordfish shall not be taken for commercial purposes with drift gill nets except under a valid drift gill net shark and swordfish permit issued to that person that has not been suspended or revoked and is issued to at least one person a…

(a) Notwithstanding Section 8102 or any other law, a permit issued pursuant to Section 8561 may not be transferred. (b) This section shall become operative on March 31, 2019.

Applications delivered to a department office after April 30, or if mailed, postmarked after April 30, shall not be accepted unless approved by the commission pursuant to Section 8569.

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the permittee shall be aboard the vessel and shall be in possession of a valid drift gill net shark and swordfish permit when engaged in operations authorized by the permit. (b) A permittee may have a person serve in the permittee’s plac…

When the permittee applies for a drift gill net shark and swordfish permit, the permittee shall specify the vessel he or she will use in operations authorized by the permit. Transfer to another vessel shall be authorized by the department upon receipt of a written request from th…

The fee for a drift gill net shark and swordfish permit shall be three hundred thirty dollars ($330).

Drift gill net shark and swordfish permits shall be issued to any prior permittee who possesses a valid drift gill net shark and swordfish permit issued pursuant to this section, but only if the permittee meets both of the following requirements: (a) Possesses a valid permit for …

Any person holding a valid drift gill net shark and swordfish permit on or after January 1, 2000, who did not make, on or after January 1, 2000, the minimum landings required under subdivision (c) of Section 8568, as amended by Section 11 of Chapter 525 of the Statutes of 1998, i…

The commission may establish conditions for the issuance of a permit if the person’s drift gill net shark and swordfish permit was revoked during a preceding season or if the person possessed a valid permit during the preceding season but did not apply for renewal of his or her p…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the status of a person as an employee, agent, or licensee of the department does not confer upon that person a special right or privilege to knowingly enter private land without the consent of the owner, a search warrant, or an insp…

Drift gill nets may be used to take shark and swordfish under the permit provided in this article, subject to Section 8610.3 and all of the following restrictions: (a) From June 1 to November 15, inclusive, shark or swordfish gill nets shall not be in the water from two hours aft…

(a) Drift gill nets with mesh size less than 14 inches in stretched mesh shall not be used to take shark and swordfish by permittees operating under a drift gill net shark and swordfish permit, and the permittee shall not have aboard the vessel or in the water a drift gill net wi…

Drift gill nets used to take shark and swordfish under the permit provided in this article shall not be used under the following circumstances: (a) From May 1 through July 31, within six nautical miles westerly, northerly, and easterly of the shoreline of San Miguel Island betwee…

Drift gill nets used to take shark and swordfish under the permit provided in this article shall not be used in the following areas: (a) Within 12 nautical miles from the nearest point on the mainland shore north of a line extending due west from Point Arguello. (b) East of a lin…

(a) Drift gill nets shall not be used to take shark or swordfish from February 1 to April 30, inclusive. (b) Drift gill nets shall not be used to take shark or swordfish in ocean waters within 75 nautical miles from the mainland coastline between the westerly extension of the Cal…

Thresher shark taken with drift gill nets shall not have the pelvic fin severed from the carcass until after the shark is brought ashore.

Notwithstanding Section 8394, the director may close the drift gill net shark and swordfish fishery, the swordfish harpoon fishery, or any area where either or both fisheries are conducted, if, after a public hearing, the director determines the action is necessary to protect the…