Title FGC — California Fish & Game Code

The department shall expend funds necessary for biological research and field investigation and for the collection and diffusion of statistics and information that pertain to the conservation, propagation, protection, and perpetuation of birds and their nests and eggs, and of mam…

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) The commercial fishing industry of the North Coast has been greatly affected by decisions made by federal and state agencies concerning the health of the salmon resource and the consequent shortening or closing of t…

Nothing in this code or any other law shall prohibit the department from taking, for scientific, propagation, public health or safety, prevention or relief of suffering, or law enforcement purposes, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds, and the nests and eggs thereof, or an…

(a) The department may issue permits, subject to restrictions and regulations that the department determines are desirable, to take or possess, in any part of the state, for scientific, educational, or propagation purposes, mammals, birds and the nests and eggs thereof, fish, amp…

(a) The department may issue a permit pursuant to Section 1002 to an appropriate public, private, or nonprofit entity, or a person, as determined by the department, in the name of a principal scientific investigator or the permitted entity or person. (b) The department may approv…

Mammals, birds and their nests and eggs, fish and their eggs, reptiles, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, or any other form of plant or animal life taken under the provisions of a scientific or propagation permit issued pursuant to Section 1002 may be shipped or transported anyw…

The department may capture and sell birds and mammals, at prices to be fixed by the commission, to persons engaged in the domestication and sale thereof in this State. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

For the purpose of exhibiting fish and game educational material at fairs or sportsmen’s shows and making other public displays, and to make conservation educational materials on fish and game available for any public use, including fairs, sportsmen’s shows, schools, and civic or…

Notwithstanding Section 11005 of the Government Code, the department may accept gifts of personal property if the donor is a county of the state and the gift is purchased with fine money derived from fish and game violations. The department shall notify the Department of Finance …

The department may inspect the following: (a) All boats, markets, stores and other buildings, except dwellings, and all receptacles, except the clothing actually worn by a person at the time of inspection, where birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, or amphibia may be stored, placed, o…

The department may import, propagate, and distribute birds, mammals, or fish. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

The department shall investigate all diseases of, and problems relating to, birds, mammals, or fish, and establish and maintain laboratories to assist in such investigation. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

The department may obtain for the State rights of way over private lands for the purpose of furnishing access for the public to lands or waters open to public hunting or fishing whenever such rights of way are determined by the commission to be necessary for such public use. Such…

The department, by and with the approval of the Department of General Services, may sell grazing permits or otherwise dispose of excess vegetation or other products, produced on lands acquired by the department.

(a) The department may procure insurance for any of the following purposes: (1) For itself and landowners who agree to permit the department to use their land as cooperative hunting, fishing, conservation or recreational areas, against any liability resulting from the operation o…

The department may procure insurance for its employees for injury or death against the liability of the owner or operator of any vessel boarded by an employee as an observer.

In any lease, easement, or right-of-way entered into whereby the department leases real property or obtains a grant of easement or right-of-way in real property for the purpose of constructing, operating, or maintaining a fish screen, fish ladder, fishweir, or fishtrap, the depar…

If the Department of Parks and Recreation contracts with the federal government pursuant to Public Law 89-161 for the administration of recreation development or fish and wildlife enhancement facilities, as authorized by Section 5006.6 of the Public Resources Code, the Department…

Whenever the department is required, or provided an opportunity, to assess the adequacy of a project or to provide a detailed environmental impact statement or similar document pursuant to Public Law 91-190 or Section 21100, 21101, or 21102 of the Public Resources Code, or any ot…

(a) Whenever the department determines that an oil sump, as defined by Section 3780 of the Public Resources Code, is hazardous to wildlife, but does not constitute an immediate and grave danger to wildlife, the department shall forthwith notify the State Oil and Gas Supervisor of…

(a) It is the policy of the state to anticipate and resolve potential conflicts between the management, conservation, and protection of fish and wildlife resources and their habitat and private and public activities that may affect them. (b) Accordingly, the department may use su…

The director shall use the department’s resources, to the fullest extent feasible, to coordinate with the federal government to promote the preservation of species, including species listed as endangered species or threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act of 19…

(a) Subject to an appropriation of funds by the Legislature for that purpose, for parcels wholly within its jurisdiction acquired on or after January 1, 2002, the department shall prepare draft management plans for public review within 18 months of the recordation date. (b) (1) O…

(a) The department and the commission shall develop a strategic plan to implement proposals arising from any of the following: (1) The strategic vision developed and submitted to the Governor and the Legislature pursuant to Section 12805.3 of the Government Code. (2) Any legislat…

(a) The department may take feasible actions to conserve monarch butterflies and the unique habitats they depend upon for successful migration. These actions may include, but are not limited to, habitat restoration on department lands, education programs, and voluntary agreements…

(a) The commission may authorize, for research, educational, limited testing, data collection, compensation fishing, conservation engineering, or exploratory fishing, or any combination of these purposes, an EFP to be issued by the department that authorizes commercial or recreat…

(a) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the department may develop a pilot program to collect and compile information and data on wildlife-vehicle collisions to support wildlife conservation efforts conducted through regional conservation investment strategies approved pursuan…

(a) The department shall conduct a study to create a framework for cannabis site restoration projects with the goal of providing guidance for the cleanup, remediation, and restoration of environmental damage caused by cannabis cultivation, and shall complete the study by January …

(a) (1) (A) The department shall submit a report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2027, and each year thereafter, on illicit cannabis cultivation, including reconnaissance, eradication, reclamation, and restoration operations involving the department, and on the status …

(a) All licenses, permits, tags, reservations, and other entitlements authorized by this code shall be prepared and issued by the department. (b) The commission shall determine the form of all licenses, permits, tags, reservations, and other entitlements and the method of carryin…

Any license, permit, tag, stamp, or other entitlement authorized pursuant to this code is not valid until it is filled out completely and accurately and the fee authorized or identified in statute or regulation for that entitlement is received and paid to the department or its ag…

Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the department may issue a temporary document that allows the holder of a license, permit, license tag, license stamp, application, reservation, or other entitlement purchased through the Internet to enjoy the privileges of the en…

(a) On or before January 1, 2023, the department may provide an option to display a sport fishing license, validation, report card, or other sport fishing entitlement issued pursuant to this code or regulations adopted pursuant to this code electronically on a mobile device. (b) …

The department may accept a credit card charge as a method of payment. Any contract executed by the department with credit card issuers or draft purchasers shall be consistent with Section 6159 of the Government Code. Notwithstanding Title 1.3 (commencing with Section 1747) of Pa…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the names and addresses contained in records submitted and retained by the department for the purpose of obtaining recreational fishing and hunting licenses are confidential and are not public records. (b) Notwithstanding any othe…

(a) The department may issue collectible, commemorative licenses to any person for purposes of promoting and supporting licensed hunting, fishing, and resource conservation, subject to all of the following: (1) A commemorative license may be designed and produced as the departmen…

Licenses of each class shall be uniquely numbered. Every license shall contain its expiration date and the fee for which it is issued. If no fee is either required by this code or established by the commission pursuant to Section 1050, the license shall so indicate.

It is unlawful for any person to do any of the following: (a) Transfer any license, tag, stamp, permit, application, or reservation. (b) Use or possess any license, tag, stamp, permit, application, or reservation that was not lawfully issued to the user or possessor thereof or th…

Any stamp issued pursuant to this article is not valid unless affixed to the appropriate license document.

(a) A person shall not obtain more than one license, permit, reservation, or other entitlement of the same class, or more than the number of tags authorized by statute or regulation for the same license year, except under one of the following conditions: (1) Nonresident hunting l…

Applicants for hunting licenses shall first satisfactorily complete a hunter education equivalency examination and obtain a certificate of equivalency as provided by regulations adopted by the commission, or show proof of completion of a hunter education training course, or show …

(a) It is unlawful to submit, or conspire to submit, any false, inaccurate, or otherwise misleading information on any application or other document offered or otherwise presented to the department for any purpose, including, but not limited to, obtaining a license, tag, permit, …

Every person while engaged in taking any bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, or reptile shall have on his or her person or in his or her immediate possession, or where otherwise specifically required by law to be kept, any license, tag, stamp, or permit that is required in order to ta…

The department may issue and shall collect payment for any entitlement, document, or authorization for which a fee is authorized pursuant to this code.

(a) The department shall establish, and keep current, written policies and procedures relating to the application process and the award of hunting tags for fundraising purposes, as authorized pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 331, subdivision (d) of Section 332, Section 4334…

(a) Any person, except a commissioner, officer, or employee of the department, may submit an application to the department to be a license agent to issue licenses, permits, reservations, tags, or other entitlements. (b) A person shall only be authorized to be a license agent to i…

The department may authorize any person other than a commissioner or an officer or employee of the department to issue, as an agent of the department, annual wildlife area passes and native species stamps, and to sell promotional materials and nature study aids pursuant to, and s…

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), each license agent authorized pursuant to Section 1055.1 shall remit to the department the fees prescribed in this code or in regulations adopted pursuant to this code for all licenses, permits, reservations, tags, and other entitlements…

A license agent who fails to transmit the fees or accounting reports required by Section 1055.6 not later than 60 days following the due date as specified by the department may be required to execute, in favor of the department, a bond, payable to the department, in a sum determi…

All license, tag, permit, reservation, and other entitlement money shall be accounted for separately from other funds of a license agent, and shall at all times belong to the state.