Title FGC — California Fish & Game Code

Finfish, other than sablefish and hagfish, may be taken under a general trap permit if all of the following criteria are also met: (a) Every person aboard the vessel possesses a valid general trap permit that has not been suspended or revoked. (b) If nearshore species are present…

Sablefish may be taken under a general trap permit in ocean waters between a line extending due west true from Point Arguello in Santa Barbara County and the United States-Mexico international boundary line, if all of the following criteria are also met: (a) The trap shall be six…

(a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b), (c), and (d), it is unlawful to willfully or recklessly disturb, move, or damage any trap that belongs to another person and that is marked with a buoy identification number pursuant to Section 9006. (b) A person, who has been issued a …

(a) Notwithstanding Section 9002, the department, in consultation with the Dungeness crab task force, shall establish a retrieval program to provide for the retrieval of lost or abandoned commercial Dungeness crab traps by June 30, 2019. (b) The retrieval program developed pursua…

Every trap shall have at least one destruction device which meets specifications approved by the department. In order to minimize the adverse effects on living marine resources, the specifications for destruction devices shall provide for a device that destructs rapidly enough to…

Every trap shall be raised, cleaned, serviced, and emptied at intervals, not to exceed 96 hours, weather conditions at sea permitting, and no trap shall be abandoned in the waters of this state.

Every trap or string of traps shall be marked with a buoy. The department shall implement regulations by January 1, 2020, requiring standardized gear marking for those fisheries in which the department determines it is appropriate. As part of the regulations, the department shall…

Every trap used to take finfish or crustaceans shall be marked with a buoy. Each buoy shall be marked to identify the operator as follows: (a) For a trap used to take lobster the commercial fishing license identification number followed by the letter “P.” (b) For a trap used to t…

Any trap used without a buoy, or with a buoy which is not marked pursuant to Section 9006, is a public nuisance and shall be removed from the waters of this state by any person authorized to enforce this code.

Any trap used in violation of this code, or any regulations adopted pursuant thereto, is a public nuisance and, except as provided in Section 9007, shall be seized pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 8630) of Chapter 3.

(a) Subject to Article 5 (commencing with Section 8250) of Chapter 2, spiny lobster may be taken with lobster traps under a lobster permit issued pursuant to Section 8254. (b) Notwithstanding Sections 8660 and 8665, lobster traps may be used in any area of the state not otherwise…

(a) (1) Subject to Article 6 (commencing with Section 8275) of Chapter 2, Dungeness crab, as defined in Section 8275, may be taken with Dungeness crab traps. (2) A Dungeness crab trap may have any number of openings of any size. However, every Dungeness crab trap shall have at le…

(a) No vessel may be used to take and land crab for both commercial and sport purposes in the same day. (b) In Districts 6, 7, 8, and 9, no trap shall be used to take Dungeness crab if that trap is attached to another trap or other traps by a common line.

(a) Subject to Article 18 (commencing with Section 8590) of Chapter 2, prawns or shrimp, as defined in Section 8590, may be taken with prawn traps or shrimp traps under a general trap permit issued pursuant to Section 9001. (b) A prawn trap or a shrimp trap shall be six feet or l…

(a) Subject to Section 8400, California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis), mudsuckers (Gillichthys mirabilis), yellowfin gobies (Acanthogobius flavimanus), shiner perch (Cymatogaster aggregata), and staghorn sculpin (Leptocottus armatus) may be taken with baitfish traps under a ge…

(a) Notwithstanding Section 9000, traps used to take fin fish may not be used in Districts 10, 11, and 12, except for bait fish traps as provided for in Sections 8400 and 9020. (b) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (a), all marine species of fin fish subject to Section …

(a) Traps may be used throughout the year to take carp in any district under the restrictions set forth in subdivision (b). (b) Traps shall not exceed six feet in greatest dimension. They shall be made of cotton or nylon twine. Meshes shall not be less than three and one-half inc…

Crayfish traps may be used at any time in any district to take crayfish only. Traps shall not exceed three feet in greatest dimension. Any other species taken with crayfish traps shall be returned to the water immediately. The commission may prohibit the use of crayfish traps whi…

The Legislature finds and declares that it is in the best interest of the people of the state and California’s marine resources and fisheries that the use of commercial hook and line fishing gear be regulated in a manner that assures the orderly development of the fisheries, main…

(a) Troll lines or handlines having not more than two hooks (plugs excepted) may be used in any district, and troll lines with more than two hooks may be used in Fish and Game Districts 6, 7, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 19A, and that portion of Fish and Game District 11 west of the G…

Set lines may be used in Districts 6, 7, 10, 17, 18, and 19. It is unlawful to use set lines with hooks more than 100 feet above the anchor or ocean bottom.

(a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 9026, 9028, or 9029, in the area described in subdivision (b), it is unlawful to use more than 150 hooks on a vessel to take a fish for commercial purposes when using fishing lines authorized pursuant to this article. (2) In the area described in s…

(a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 9026, 9028, or 9029 in the area described in subdivision (b), it is unlawful to use more than 150 hooks on a vessel to take fish for commercial purposes when using fishing lines authorized pursuant to this article. (2) In the area described in subd…

Notwithstanding Sections 8603 and 9025.5, it is unlawful to use fishing lines, including, but not limited to, troll lines and handlines more than 900 feet in length unless they are used as set lines pursuant to Sections 8601 and 9026 or they are used as part of deep-set buoy gear…

(a) Notwithstanding Section 9028, a fishing line which is anchored to the ocean bottom at one end and attached at the surface to a fishing vessel or a buoy may be used in Districts 6, 7, 10, 17, 18, and 19. (b) A fishing line otherwise permitted pursuant to subdivision (a), may n…

Notwithstanding Sections 9025.5, 9026, and 9029, it is unlawful to use set lines, vertical fishing lines, or troll lines to take fish for commercial purposes within one mile of the nearest point of land on the mainland shore in Fish and Game District 7 or 10 from sunset on Friday…

A spade, shovel, hoe, rake, or other appliance operated by hand may be used to take mollusks, sand crabs, and shrimps in Districts 1, 11/2, 2, 21/2, 3, 31/2, 4, 41/8, 43/4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 19A, 20, 20A, and 21, except as specified in Section 7332, exce…

(a) Spears, harpoons, and bows and arrows may be used for taking all varieties of skates, rays, and sharks, except soupfin sharks. (b) This section shall become operative January 1, 1999.

Slurp guns may be used to take fish for commercial purposes in fish and game districts 6, 7, 10, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 20A.

(a) Powered equipment of such design as may be prescribed by the commission may be used to take crustaceans and mollusks under a revocable permit issued by the department and under such regulations as the commission shall prescribe. (b) Taking of lobster or crabs under this secti…

Sea urchins shall not be taken for commercial purposes except under a valid sea urchin diving permit issued to that person that has not been suspended or revoked, subject to regulations adopted by the commission. Rakes, airlifts, or other handheld appliances may be used to take s…

The commission shall adopt regulations related to commercial sea urchin diving permits, and the vessels used to commercially fish for sea urchin, in order to better manage the number of permits issued.

(a) The base fee for a sea urchin permit authorized pursuant to Section 9054 is five hundred ninety-eight dollars and fifty cents ($598.50). (b) Upon notification from the California Sea Urchin Commission, the department shall charge an additional two hundred dollars ($200) for a…

The department shall adopt regulations regarding the marking and color coding of lines used in state managed fisheries.

The department may, with the approval of the commission and the Department of General Services, exchange any portion of the property lying within the boundaries of any area or range referred to in this section for any property within or contiguous to such area or range or may sel…

(a) The following rules govern an exchange or sale of property pursuant to Section 1500: (1) If a parcel contains 15 acres or less, the director shall except and reserve to the state all mineral deposits below a depth of 500 feet, without surface rights of entry. (2) If a parcel …

The department may expend such funds as may be necessary for the improvement of property, including nonnavigable lakes and streams, riparian zones, and upland, in order to restore, rehabilitate, and improve fish and wildlife habitat. The improvement activities may include, but ar…

(a) The department may enter into contracts for fish and wildlife habitat preservation, restoration, and enhancement with public and private entities whenever the department finds that the contracts will assist in meeting the department’s duty to preserve, protect, and restore fi…

Notwithstanding Section 1501.5, the department may allocate federal funds and any moneys received as donations for purposes of the Wolf-Livestock Compensation Pilot Program to pay for the deterrence of wolf presence near livestock, the impacts of wolf presence on livestock, and f…

The department, in accordance with policies established by the commission, may provide for the feeding of game birds, mammals, or fish at such times as natural foods therefor are not available, and may provide suitable area or areas for such feeding, and may for those purposes ex…

The department shall provide for the feeding of deer wherever the director finds that natural forage is unavailable therefor due to excessive snow. The times, extent, and manner of such feeding shall be prescribed by the director. In carrying out the provisions of this section ne…

(a) When income is derived directly from real property acquired and operated by the state as a wildlife management area, and regardless of whether income is derived from property acquired after October 1, 1949, the department may pay annually to the county in which the property i…

(a) The department may manage, control, and protect the portions of the following spawning areas that occupy state-owned lands, to the extent necessary to protect fishlife in these areas: (1) The Sacramento River between Keswick and Loybas Hill Bridge, near Vina. (2) The Feather …

(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) “Managed wetland habitat” means artificially irrigated and intensively managed wetland habitat administered primarily for the benefit of waterfowl and other wetland-dependent species. (2) “Best management prac…

For the purposes of propagating, feeding and protecting birds, mammals, and fish, and establishing wildlife management areas or public shooting grounds the department, with the approval of the commission, may do all of the following: (a) Accept, on behalf of the state, donations …

Any property acquired for wildlife management areas or public shooting grounds shall be acquired in the name of the State, and shall, at all times, be subject to such rules and regulations as may be prescribed from time to time by the commission for the occupation, use, operation…

(a) The department, upon request of the leaseholder, shall extend any existing lease for a recreational homesite on Lower Sherman Island to the holder of any lease of lands under the control of the department, under the following conditions: (1) The existing lease is between the …

The department shall do all things necessary to secure a valid title in the State to the property acquired for wildlife management areas or public shooting grounds but no payment shall be made therefor until the title is satisfactory to the Attorney General, and is vested in the …

Lands, or lands and water, acquired for public shooting grounds, state marine (estuarine) recreational management areas, or wildlife management areas shall be operated on a nonprofit basis by the department. Multiple recreational use of wildlife management areas is desirable and …

The output of any state game farm shall be distributed on public lands or where the department determines that the output will receive adequate protection and be most likely to thrive and multiply. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)