Title FGC, California Fish & Game Code

(a) A person who violates Section 5650 is subject to a civil penalty of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each violation. (b) The civil penalty imposed for each separate violation pursuant to this section is separate, and in addition to, any other civil pen…

Whenever it is determined by the department that a continuing and chronic condition of pollution exists, the department shall report that condition to the appropriate regional water quality control board, and shall cooperate with the board in obtaining correction or abatement in …

(a) It is unlawful to deposit, permit to pass into, or place where it can pass into the waters of the state, or to abandon, dispose of, or throw away, within 150 feet of the high water mark of the waters of the state, any cans, bottles, garbage, motor vehicle or parts thereof, ru…

(a) The use of vacuum or suction dredge equipment by a person in a river, stream, or lake of this state is prohibited, except as authorized under a permit issued to that person by the department in compliance with the regulations adopted pursuant to Section 5653.9. Before a perso…

(a) The issuance of permits to operate vacuum or suction dredge equipment is a project pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code) and permits may only be issued, and vacuum or suction dredge mini…

Any person required to possess a permit pursuant to Section 5653 shall present his or her dredging equipment for inspection upon request of a state or county fish and game warden. (Added by Stats. 1988, Ch. 1037, Sec. 2.)

For purposes of Section 5653, “river, stream, or lake” means the body of water at the current water level at the time of the dredging. (Added by Stats. 1988, Ch. 1037, Sec. 3.)

In the event of an unanticipated water level change, when necessary to protect fish and wildlife resources, the department may close areas that were otherwise opened for dredging and for which permits were issued pursuant to Section 5653. (Added by Stats. 1988, Ch. 1037, Sec. 4.)…

For purposes of Sections 5653 and 5653.3, “person” does not include a partnership, corporation, or other type of association. (Added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 1109, Sec. 2. Effective September 29, 1994.)

The department shall adopt regulations to carry out Section 5653 and may adopt regulations to carry out Sections 5653.3, 5653.5, and 5653.7. The regulations shall be adopted in accordance with the requirements of Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources…

(a) (1) The director, after a notification of a spill or discharge, as those terms are defined in Section 8670.3 of the Government Code, where any fishing, including all commercial, recreational, and nonlicensed subsistence fishing, may take place, or where aquaculture operations…

(a) In addition to the responsibilities imposed pursuant to Section 5651, the department may clean up or abate, or cause to be cleaned up or abated, the effects of any petroleum or petroleum product deposited or discharged in the waters of this state or deposited or discharged in…

Any recovery or settlement of money damages, including, but not limited to, civil penalties arising out of any civil action filed and maintained by the Attorney General in the enforcement of this article shall be deposited in the Fish and Wildlife Pollution Account in the Fish an…

Spiny lobster may not be taken under a sport fishing license except by use of a hoop net or by hand. (Added by Stats. 1961, Ch. 1315.)

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. (Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 1052, Sec. 13. Effective January 1, 1999.)

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.)

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…

(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…

(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 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…

(a) The department, in cooperation with landowners and landowner organizations, shall, on or before January 1, 1995, develop a statewide policy and procedure for recording and processing landowner complaints regarding alleged misconduct by personnel of the department and a writte…

Notwithstanding Section 11005 of the Government Code, the department may seek and accept grants and donations from private and public organizations and agencies for the purpose of administering the Canine (K9) Program. The acceptance of one-time donations valued over fifteen thou…

The department may offer for sale a fish and game warden stamp to be designed and produced as the department may determine. The fish and game warden stamp may be purchased on a voluntary basis from the department or a licensed agent authorized pursuant to Section 1055.1 for a don…

The following constitutes the Pacific Grove Marine Gardens Fish Refuge: All that area within the following boundaries as they existed April 1, 1963, not within the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge: Beginning at the point of intersection of the southeasterly corporate limit line of the …

(a) (1) The department, in cooperation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, may, upon application, issue a written permit to import into, possess, or transport within this state any wild animal enumerated in, or designated pursuant to, Section 671 of Title 14 of the Calif…

Fees collected pursuant to this chapter for permits, permit applications, and facility inspections shall be deposited in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. The department shall annually identify the amount collected for each type of permit, permit application, or inspection for…

The department shall establish fees for permits, permit applications, and facility inspections in amounts sufficient to cover the costs of administering, implementing, and enforcing this chapter. (Repealed and added by Stats. 1990, Ch. 789, Sec. 6.)

(a) The director shall appoint a committee to advise the director on the humane care and treatment of wild animals. (b) The committee shall make recommendations to the director for the establishment of standards of performance for administration and enforcement, which shall inclu…

(a) The department or an eligible local entity shall inspect the wild animal facilities, as determined by the director’s advisory committee, of each person holding a permit issued pursuant to Section 2150 authorizing the possession of a wild animal. (b) In addition to the inspect…

Classes, orders, families, genera, and species which may not be imported, transported, possessed, or released alive in this state solely because of concern for the welfare of the animal may be possessed under permit when the owner can demonstrate that such animal was legally acqu…

(a) A public or private agency that operates a water supply system and has submitted a control plan to the department, prepared pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 2301, shall be exempt from any permit requirement for invasive mussels pursuant to this chapter for maintenance, …

A permit shall be issued only upon written application from the person desiring to import or transport the species, enumerating all of the following: (a) The approximate number and true scientific name of each species of wild animal for which a permit is requested. (b) The carrie…

Each permit issued shall set forth all of the following: (a) The number and true scientific name of the species of wild animal for which the permit is granted. (b) A statement of the manner and conditions under which the entry of such species is permitted. (c) A statement of the …

Whenever any permit is issued under the provisions of this article, one copy shall be sent by the department to the State Department of Food and Agriculture, one copy to the county agricultural commissioner or to the state plant quarantine officer having jurisdiction at the place…

The provisions of this chapter and regulations adopted pursuant thereto shall apply to the progeny of any wild animal imported or possessed under such laws and regulations, except that no permit shall be required for the possession of progeny if a permit has already been obtained…

Neither the provisions of this chapter nor the regulations of the commission shall prevent any city or county from enacting ordinances relating to the possession or care of wild animals provided such ordinances are more restrictive. (Added by Stats. 1974, Ch. 1503.)

(a) Every person holding a permit issued pursuant to Section 2150 shall uniquely identify each wild mammal that poses a risk to the health and safety of the public and report this identification to the department to maintain in a registry. (b) The commission shall adopt regulatio…

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), this article applies to a commission regulation that governs the take or possession of any bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, or reptile. (b) This article does not apply to a regulation governed by subdivision (b) of Section 200 or Section 2…

(a) When adopting, amending, or repealing a regulation governed by this article, the commission shall conduct the following steps at separate public meetings: (1) Approve the submission of a notice of proposed action to the Office of Administrative Law. (2) Consider public commen…

(a) The commission and the department may do anything that is deemed necessary and proper to publicize and distribute a regulation governed by this article so that persons likely to be affected will be informed of them. The failure of the commission to provide any notice of a reg…

A regulation governed by this article is not subject to the time periods for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation prescribed in Sections 11343.4, 11346.4, 11346.8, and 11347.1 of the Government Code. (Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 546, Sec. 18. (SB 1473) Effective Janua…

The adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation governed by this article shall become effective at the time specified in the regulation, but not sooner than the date of the filing. (Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 546, Sec. 18. (SB 1473) Effective January 1, 2017.)

A regulation governed by this article shall remain in effect for the period specified in the regulation or until superseded by subsequent regulation of the commission or by statute. (Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 546, Sec. 18. (SB 1473) Effective January 1, 2017.)