Title FGC — California Fish & Game Code

It is unlawful to take shellfish used or intended to be used for human consumption from any area from which it shall be determined, as provided in this article, that the taking of shellfish does or may constitute a menace to the lives or health of human beings. (Enacted by Stats.…

The State Department of Public Health may: (a) Examine any area from which shellfish may be taken. (b) Determine whether the area is subject to sewage contamination. (c) Determine whether the taking of shellfish from the area does or may constitute a menace to the lives or health…

Upon the determination by the State Department of Public Health that the area is or may be subject to sewage contamination, and that the taking of shellfish from it does or may constitute a menace to the lives or health of human beings, it shall ascertain as accurately as it can …

The fact of posting the notices shall be published once a week for four successive weeks in some newspaper of general circulation published in the county in which the contaminated area is situated, if there is such a newspaper, and if there is none, then in such a newspaper publi…

The State Department of Public Health shall enforce the provisions of this article, and for that purpose the inspectors and employees of that agency may enter at all times upon public or private property upon which shellfish may be located.

If examinations are conducted pursuant to this article for purposes of certifying the quality of shellfish-growing waters, certification of water quality shall be commenced within 30 days, and completed within three months of the filing of an application by an aquaculturist.

(a) Notwithstanding Sections 5670, 5672, 8341, and 9050, native and nonnative mollusks may be taken in Districts 12 and 13 and moved to other areas to be purified for human consumption under rules and regulations established by the commission. Those regulations may include, but a…

(a) The State Department of Public Health may make sanitary surveys of mollusk-growing areas or may use sanitary surveys of mollusk-growing areas made by qualified state or county agencies, and based on that information may classify those areas for purposes of harvesting and movi…

If examinations are conducted by the State Department of Public Health pursuant to this article for purposes of certifying the quality of shellfish-growing waters, certification of water quality shall be commenced within 30 days and completed within six months of the filing of an…

Any person who moves any native mollusks taken under regulations of the commission from Districts 12 and 13 for purposes of purification for human consumption shall pay a royalty, as the commission may prescribe, of not less than two cents ($0.02) per pound of mollusks so taken.

(a) It is unlawful to conduct any mining operation in the Trinity and Klamath River Fish and Game District between July 1 and November 30, except when the debris, substances, tailings or other effluent from those operations do not and cannot pass into the waters in that district.…

Section 5800 does not affect any other laws applying to the territory included in the Trinity and Klamath River Fish and Game District which relate to birds, mammals, and fish. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

Section 5800 does not apply to the construction, repair, or maintenance of public works by the Federal or State Government, or any political subdivision thereof. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

No provision of this article is a limitation on the authority of the State Water Resources Control Board or any California Regional Water Quality Control Board to adopt and enforce additional discharge requirements or prohibitions.

Spiny lobster may not be taken under a sport fishing license except by use of a hoop net or by hand.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) California has the greatest biodiversity of native trout species of any state in the nation. Trout can be found in more than 18,000 miles of California’s cooler streams. California’s trout are the principal sport fi…

The following are native California trout: (a) Coastal cutthroat trout. (b) Lahontan cutthroat trout. (c) Paiute cutthroat trout. (d) Coastal rainbow trout/steelhead. (e) Eagle Lake rainbow trout. (f) Kern River rainbow trout. (g) Goose Lake redband trout. (h) McCloud River redba…

No pismo clam not in the shell may be possessed, except when it is being prepared for immediate consumption. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

No instrument capable of being used to dig clams may be possessed between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise, on any beach of this State, except tools and implements used in the work of cleaning, repairing, or maintaining such beach when possessed by a pe…

Giant seabass (Stereolepis gigas) may not be taken under a sport fishing license except by hook and line when engaged in the taking of other fish. This section, and any regulations of the commission relating thereto, shall supersede Section 2353.

(a) Fees received by the department from the sale of the Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp or validation shall be deposited in a separate account in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. The Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp or validation shall not be required, and…

(a) The department, in consultation with the advisory committee created pursuant to Section 7363, shall develop a grant program to support activities consistent with Section 7361. (b) The department, in consultation with the advisory committee, shall develop priority areas for fu…

(a) The director shall appoint a Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp Fund Advisory Committee, consisting of nine members. The committee members shall be selected from names of persons submitted by anglers and associations representing Bay-Delta anglers of this state and sha…

(a) The department shall do all of the following: (1) In consultation with the advisory committee, develop a spending plan that focuses on identifying and funding viable projects and monitoring revenues to assist the department in effectively expending available stamp revenues in…

(a) It is unlawful to take or possess for commercial purposes, buy or sell, or offer to buy or sell, a whole sturgeon, or part of a sturgeon, including, but not limited to, its eggs, except as follows: (1) A sturgeon, part of a sturgeon, or sturgeon eggs, taken or possessed by, a…

(a) In addition to a valid California sport fishing license and any applicable sport license stamp issued pursuant to this code, after January 1, 1993, a person taking steelhead trout in inland waters shall have in his or her possession a valid nontransferable steelhead trout fis…

(a) Revenue received pursuant to Section 7380 may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, only to monitor, restore, or enhance steelhead trout resources consistent with Sections 6901 and 6902, and to administer the fishing report-restoration card program. The departme…

This article shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2027, and as of that date is repealed.

(a) The director shall appoint a Recreational Abalone Advisory Committee consisting of nine members who shall serve without compensation. The members of the advisory committee shall be selected as follows: (1) Six members who are not officers or employees of the department. The s…

All fish, the taking of which is not otherwise restricted for commercial purposes, by state or federal law or any regulations adopted pursuant to those laws, may be taken at any time for commercial purposes.

(a) Sardines may not be taken or possessed on any boat, barge, or vessel except pursuant to Section 8150.7. (b) This section does not prohibit the possession or use of sardines imported into this state under a bill of lading identifying the country of origin. (c) Imported sardine…

It is the intent of the Legislature that the sardine resource be managed with the objective of maximizing the sustained harvest. The department shall manage the sardine resource in conformance with the federal fishery regulations as recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management C…

No person shall receive, possess, or sell sardines for any purpose except for that purpose specified on the fish receipt completed at the time of landing of those sardines pursuant to Section 8043.

In any district or part of a district lying south of a line drawn east and west through Point Mugu, anchovies may be taken in any quantity for bait or for human consumption in a fresh state, or, by contract with the department, for hatchery food, not to exceed 500 tons per year. …

Anchovies taken south of that line in waters not less than three nautical miles from the nearest point of land on the mainland shore, and anchovies taken north of that line in any waters, may be possessed, transported, sold, or otherwise dealt with in any district or part of a di…

The operator of a boat engaged in taking anchovies in waters south of the line described in Section 8180 shall at all times while operating the boat identify it by displaying on an exposed part of the superstructure, amidships on each side and on top of the house visible from the…

(a) No anchovies may be taken for any purpose in Humboldt Bay, except under the following conditions: (1) Anchovies may be taken between May 1 and December 1. (2) Not more than 60 tons of anchovies may be taken between May 1 and December 1 of each year. (3) Only bait nets, as def…

(a) It is the policy of the State of California that the anchovy resource shall be managed in a manner which insures the continued abundance of the species. To that end, the department shall conduct, or have others conduct, annual anchovy egg-larvae surveys or any other annual su…

Except as modified by the director pursuant to Section 7652, salmon may be taken under authority of a commercial fishing license and a commercial fishing salmon stamp only in Districts 6, 7, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, and 19. All species of salmon, except silver salmon, may be taken onl…

During the period when salmon may not be taken for commercial purposes in any district, salmon may be sold in that district only under the regulations of the commission. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

It is unlawful to take salmon for commercial purposes at the mouth of Humboldt Bay in those portions of Districts 6 and 7 within three nautical miles north and south of a line drawn due west for three nautical miles from the center of the mouth of that bay. (Enacted by Stats. 195…

Silver salmon may not be sold or possessed in, or transported through, District 6, 7, 10, 11, 16, 17, or 18, during the time when the taking of silver salmon for commercial purposes is unlawful in those districts.

Salmon may be sold subject to the exceptions and restrictions contained in this article. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

It is unlawful to gaff, club, otherwise injure, or possess any king or silver salmon under the legal size.

Salmon may not be taken for commercial purposes in District 6 at the mouths of the Smith and Klamath Rivers within three nautical miles north and south of a line drawn due west for three nautical miles from the center of the mouth of each of those streams, or during the months of…

(a) Notwithstanding any measurement requirements under this code, and to implement the department’s salmon tagging program, any person in possession of a salmon with a missing adipose fin, the small, fleshy fin on the back of the fish between the back fin and the tail, upon reque…

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that commercial salmon fishing is in the public interest and that the preservation of commercial salmon fishing directly affects the health and welfare of the public. The Legislature further finds and declares that, due to past declines in s…

The following definitions govern the construction of this article: (a) “Agent” means the person designated in writing by the owner as the owner’s representative. (b) “Change of ownership” means the transfer of ownership of a permitted vessel to a new owner. (c) “Commercial salmon…

It is unlawful to take or possess salmon for commercial purposes on a vessel unless all of the following conditions are met: (a) The vessel is registered with the department pursuant to Section 7881, and the owner of the vessel has a valid commercial salmon vessel permit for the …

(a) Except as provided in this section, it is unlawful to take salmon for sport purposes on a permitted vessel. (b) Subdivision (a) does not prohibit taking salmon for sport purposes under a sportfishing or a sport ocean fishing license, which is issued pursuant to Article 3 (com…