Title FGC — California Fish & Game Code

In case of an assignment for the benefit of creditors, receivership, or bankruptcy, the state shall have a preferred claim against the license agent’s assignee, receiver, or trustee for all moneys owing the state for the issuing of licenses, permits, reservations, tags, and other…

(a) The failure or refusal of any license agent to account for licenses, permits, reservations, tags, and other entitlements, or any fees received from their issuance as required by Section 1055.6 or upon demand by an authorized representative of the department is a misdemeanor. …

(a) The department may allow a person to purchase a license voucher as a gift for a licensee when the licensee’s complete and accurate personal information, as defined in regulation, is not provided by the license buyer at the time of purchase. (b) A license purchase voucher enti…

(a) A nonprofit conservation organization seeking promotion, exposure, and awareness of the organization on the Automated License Data System Online License Service Internet Web site, as feasible, through the display of the organization’s logo, or other graphics agreed upon by th…

The director may enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Food and Agriculture for the collection of an assessment on behalf of any marketing council or commission for fish or seafood organized under the Food and Agricultural Code. The agreement may authorize the department …

Section 1110 as added to this code by the initiative measure adopted at the General Election of November 8, 1938, is set forth at Section 7891 of this code. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456. Note: The provisions of Section 1110, as added November 8, 1938, by initiative Propositio…

The commission shall establish fish hatcheries for stocking the waters of this State with fish. The department shall maintain and operate such hatcheries. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

In any lease entered into whereby the state leases from any county, city, irrigation district, or other public agency in this state, real property for the purpose of establishing or maintaining a fish hatchery, the state may agree to indemnify and hold harmless the lessor by reas…

Any claim for damages arising against the state under Section 1121 shall be presented to the Department of General Services in accordance with Section 905.2 of the Government Code, and if not covered by insurance provided pursuant to Section 1121, the claim shall be payable only …

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Director of General Services, with the consent of the department, may lease to the Friends of the Mount Whitney Hatchery, at no cost, and subject to any other terms and conditions that the director deems appropriate, for a term …

(a) The Director of General Services, with the consent of the department, may lease to the Mt. Shasta Museum Association at no cost, and subject to any other terms and conditions that the director deems appropriate, for a term not to exceed 25 years, and with the possibility of r…

The department may purchase and import spawn or ova of fish suitable for food, and stock with such spawn or ova the waters of this State. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

Notwithstanding Section 1120 or any other provision of law, all funds allocated for fish purchases for the department’s urban fishing program shall be used to purchase all fish and aquatic organisms by contract, pursuant to the requirements of the Public Contract Code, from priva…

It is unlawful to take any fish in any pond, reservoir, or other water-retaining structure belonging to or controlled by the department and used for propagating, raising, holding, protecting, or conserving fish.

The Secretary of the Interior of the United States and his duly authorized agents may conduct fish cultural operations and scientific investigations in the waters of this State in such a manner and at such times as may be jointly considered necessary and proper by the secretary a…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, department personnel may construct or repair bird exclosures at state owned or operated fish hatcheries. These activities shall not be subject to review by the Public Works Board. Nothing in this section exempts the department from comp…

The boards of supervisors of the several counties may establish and maintain fish hatcheries, and may purchase the spawn or ova of fish. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

The commission may issue a permit, subject to such restrictions and regulations as the commission deems desirable, to a nonprofit organization to construct and operate an anadromous fish hatchery.

The commission shall not issue a permit unless it determines the nonprofit organization has the financial capability to successfully construct and operate the hatchery and will diligently and properly conduct the operation authorized under the permit.

No permit will be issued which may tend to deplete the natural runs of anadromous fish, result in waste or deterioration of fish, or when the proposed operation is located on a stream or river below a state or federal fish hatchery or egg-taking station.

All fish handled under authority of this article during the time they are in the hatchery or in the wild are the property of the state and when in the wild may be taken under the authority of a sport or commercial fishing license as otherwise authorized for wild fish.

Any permit granted by the commission pursuant to this article shall contain all of the following conditions: (a) If after a hearing the commission finds that the operation described in the permit and conducted pursuant to this article is not in the best public interest, the commi…

The state shall assume no responsibility for the operation of a hatchery pursuant to this article and shall not be in any manner liable for its operation.

The department is authorized to enter into agreements with counties, nonprofit groups, private persons, individually or in combination, for the management and operation of rearing facilities for salmon and steelhead. All such agreements shall be in accordance with the policies of…

An applicant who wishes to enter into an agreement to operate a rearing facility shall demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the department prior to executing such agreement, such applicant’s financial ability to properly operate the rearing facility. The department shall develop a…

All fish handled or released under authority of this article are the property of the state and may be taken only after their release into the wild and under the authority of a sport or commercial fishing license.

The release of fish reared in facilities pursuant to this article shall be made in accordance with the policy of the commission.

The department shall fund the agreements provided for in Section 1200 only on a matching basis with the persons or entities who enter into such agreements. Funds appropriated for the purposes of this article shall not be used to purchase equipment or for construction. The departm…

The department shall, subject to the limitations of appropriate egg sources and funding, make available fish of appropriate size and species to persons or entities who enter into agreements pursuant to this article.

Salmon and steelhead raised pursuant to this article shall be released in streams, rivers, or waters north of Point Conception and upon release shall have unimpeded access to the sea.

(a) The hatchery production and stocking of transgenic species of salmonids is prohibited. (b) As used in this section, “transgenic” has the same meaning as in Section 1.92 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as that section read on May 14, 2003.

All moneys collected or received from gifts or bequests, or from municipal or county appropriations or donations for purposes relating to conservation programs, projects, and activities by the department shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Fish and Game …

(a) The department may enter into one or more agreements to accept funds from any person, nonprofit organization, or other public or private entity for purposes relating to conservation programs, projects, and activities by the department. Any funds received pursuant to this sect…

Notwithstanding any other law, the department may enter into one or more agreements with a person, nonprofit organization, or other public or private entity, as may be appropriate, to assist the department in its efforts to secure long-term private funding sources for purposes re…

Except as otherwise provided, it is unlawful for any common carrier to transport any live protected nongame bird or any live resident or migratory game bird for which there is no open season.

It is unlawful to import or transport any live muskrat (genus Ondatra) into, or possess any live muskrat in, California except under permit issued by the department pursuant to Section 2118, or as otherwise provided by law. A county agricultural commissioner, fish and game deputy…

It is unlawful for any person to receive, bring, or cause to be brought into this state, for the purpose of propagation, any fish, reptile, amphibian, or aquatic plant from any place wherein any infected, diseased, or parasitized fish, reptile, amphibia, or aquatic plants are kno…

Section 2270 does not apply to the importation of live aquatic plants or animals for aquaculture purposes by a registered aquaculturist if the importation has been approved by the department pursuant to Section 15600.

(a) No live aquatic plant or animal may be imported into this state without the prior written approval of the department pursuant to regulations adopted by the commission. A written application for the importation, submitted in conformance with the procedural requirements establi…

Each package containing any live aquatic plant or animal shall bear, in a conspicuous place, a tag on which shall be stated the name and address of the consignor, the name and address of the consignee, and the exact contents of the package.

The commission may adopt regulations that it deems necessary for the disposition of birds or mammals that are killed accidentally.

When adopting regulations pursuant to any authority otherwise vested in the commission by this code, the commission shall annually determine whether to continue, repeal, or amend regulations establishing hunting seasons for black bears. The determination shall include a review of…

Prior to adopting a regulation authorizing a special hunting season for black bears for the purpose of curtailing property damage in any specified area, the commission shall comply with Article 2 (commencing with Section 325) of Chapter 3 of Division 1.

Whenever, because of extreme fire hazard, any area is closed to entry by the public by any order or proclamation issued or concurred in by the Governor the commission may establish a season for hunting or fishing within the area. The season shall commence upon or after the expira…

(a) Whenever after due investigation the commission finds that game fish, resident or migratory birds, game or fur-bearing mammals, amphibians, or reptiles have decreased in numbers in an area, district, or portion of an area or district to the extent that a scarcity exists, the …

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, in District 22 the taking of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, or reptiles shall be subject to regulations adopted, from time to time, by the commission, except that it is unlawful in District 22 to take birds or mammals within o…

For the preservation, protection and restoration of mountain sheep and other birds and mammals in arid regions of the state, the commission, in cooperation with the agency authorized to manage the land, may prohibit any activity, including but not limited to camping, in the vicin…

(a) The commission or any person appointed by it to conduct a hearing may, in any investigation or hearing, cause the deposition of witnesses, residing within or without the state, to be taken in the manner prescribed by law for deposition in civil actions in the superior courts …

The commission may designate salmon spawning areas. It is unlawful to take salmon in any such spawning area, or within 250 feet of any salmon spawning station. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

(a) The commission may issue a permit authorizing any member of the armed forces of the United States or any student or faculty member of an elementary or secondary school in the public school system actually assigned to, and participating in, an organized survival training cours…