Title FGC — California Fish & Game Code

The commission shall revoke any herring permit if the holder of the herring permit was convicted of failing to report herring landings or underreported herring landings or failed to correctly file with the department the offer or the acceptance for a permit transferred pursuant t…

(a) Notwithstanding Section 8552, a herring permit may be issued to two individuals if one of the following criteria is met: (1) The individuals are married to each other and file with the department a certified copy of their certificate of marriage and a declaration under penalt…

(a) Upon the death of a herring permittee, the permit shall vest in the permittee’s estate or in the surviving community estate, and may be transferred by the executor, administrator, personal representative, or surviving spouse to a qualified pointholder pursuant to Section 8552…

The department shall reissue a herring permit which has been transferred pursuant to Section 8552.2 or 8552.6 upon payment of a transfer fee by the transferee of the permit. Before April 1, 1997, the transfer fee is two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), and, on and after Ap…

(a) For purposes of this article, the experience points for a person engaged in the herring roe fishery shall be based on the number of years holding a commercial fishing license and the number of years having served as a crewmember in the herring roe fishery, and determined by t…

The commission may make and enforce such regulations as may be necessary or convenient for carrying out any power, authority, or jurisdiction conferred under this article.

The commission, in adopting regulations for the commercial herring fishery, shall provide for the temporary substitution of a permittee to take herring, if the permittee is ill or injured, by a crewmember aboard the vessel operated by the permittee. The commission may require tha…

The director shall periodically meet and confer with representatives of the commercial herring roe fishery to review regulations and policies of the commission and the department concerning that fishery and to receive recommendations on the regulation and management of that fishe…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commission shall determine, by regulation, if drift or set gill nets may be used to take herring for commercial purposes. The commission may also determine, by regulation, the size of the meshes of the material used to make such gil…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commission shall determine if round haul nets may be used to take herring in Districts 12 and 13 and the conditions under which those nets may be used.

The commission, in determining experience requirements for new entrants into the herring fishery after January 1, 1987, shall require that any person seeking a permit to operate a vessel to take herring and claiming crew experience shall demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the de…

(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 Section 8394, shark and swordfish shall not be taken for commercial purposes with drift gill nets except under a valid drift gill net shark and swordfish permit issued to that person that has not been suspended or revoked and is issued to at least one person a…

(a) Notwithstanding Section 8102 or any other law, a permit issued pursuant to Section 8561 may not be transferred. (b) This section shall become operative on March 31, 2019.

Applications delivered to a department office after April 30, or if mailed, postmarked after April 30, shall not be accepted unless approved by the commission pursuant to Section 8569.

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the permittee shall be aboard the vessel and shall be in possession of a valid drift gill net shark and swordfish permit when engaged in operations authorized by the permit. (b) A permittee may have a person serve in the permittee’s plac…

When the permittee applies for a drift gill net shark and swordfish permit, the permittee shall specify the vessel he or she will use in operations authorized by the permit. Transfer to another vessel shall be authorized by the department upon receipt of a written request from th…

The fee for a drift gill net shark and swordfish permit shall be three hundred thirty dollars ($330).

Drift gill net shark and swordfish permits shall be issued to any prior permittee who possesses a valid drift gill net shark and swordfish permit issued pursuant to this section, but only if the permittee meets both of the following requirements: (a) Possesses a valid permit for …

Any person holding a valid drift gill net shark and swordfish permit on or after January 1, 2000, who did not make, on or after January 1, 2000, the minimum landings required under subdivision (c) of Section 8568, as amended by Section 11 of Chapter 525 of the Statutes of 1998, i…

The commission may establish conditions for the issuance of a permit if the person’s drift gill net shark and swordfish permit was revoked during a preceding season or if the person possessed a valid permit during the preceding season but did not apply for renewal of his or her p…

(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…

Drift gill nets may be used to take shark and swordfish under the permit provided in this article, subject to Section 8610.3 and all of the following restrictions: (a) From June 1 to November 15, inclusive, shark or swordfish gill nets shall not be in the water from two hours aft…

(a) Drift gill nets with mesh size less than 14 inches in stretched mesh shall not be used to take shark and swordfish by permittees operating under a drift gill net shark and swordfish permit, and the permittee shall not have aboard the vessel or in the water a drift gill net wi…

Drift gill nets used to take shark and swordfish under the permit provided in this article shall not be used under the following circumstances: (a) From May 1 through July 31, within six nautical miles westerly, northerly, and easterly of the shoreline of San Miguel Island betwee…

Drift gill nets used to take shark and swordfish under the permit provided in this article shall not be used in the following areas: (a) Within 12 nautical miles from the nearest point on the mainland shore north of a line extending due west from Point Arguello. (b) East of a lin…

(a) Drift gill nets shall not be used to take shark or swordfish from February 1 to April 30, inclusive. (b) Drift gill nets shall not be used to take shark or swordfish in ocean waters within 75 nautical miles from the mainland coastline between the westerly extension of the Cal…

Thresher shark taken with drift gill nets shall not have the pelvic fin severed from the carcass until after the shark is brought ashore.

Notwithstanding Section 8394, the director may close the drift gill net shark and swordfish fishery, the swordfish harpoon fishery, or any area where either or both fisheries are conducted, if, after a public hearing, the director determines the action is necessary to protect the…

(a) A permittee shall be subject to the provisions of this article whenever the permittee is using a drift gill net, unless the permittee has surrendered his or her permit to the department. (b) A permittee may surrender his or her permit by notifying the department of his or her…

(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…

It is unlawful for any permittee to sell swordfish taken by him or her to other than the persons described in Section 8032 or 8033.

Any license issued pursuant to Sections 8032 to 8036, inclusive, may be revoked or suspended by the commission, when requested by the department, upon a conviction for a violation of Section 8043 for failure to report, or for inaccurately reporting, shark or swordfish landings by…

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that the intent of this article is not to permit or encourage the taking of marlin for commercial purposes. (b) It shall be a misdemeanor for any person operating under a permit pursuant to this article to sell or possess for sale or persona…

(a) By March 31, 2020, the department shall establish a program to transition the holders of drift gill net permits issued pursuant to Section 8561 out of the drift gill net fishery that includes the following conditions: (1) A permittee who chooses to participate in the transiti…

This article does not create or recognize a property right in fish expected to be caught using a permit issued pursuant to Section 8561.

This article shall be known and may be cited as the Nearshore Fisheries Management Act.

The Legislature finds and declares that important commercial and recreational fisheries exist on numerous stocks of rockfish (genus Sebastes), California sheephead (genus Semicossyphus), kelp greenling (genus Hexagrammos), cabezon (genus Scorpaenichthys), and scorpionfish (genus …

The following definitions govern the construction of this article: (a) “Nearshore fish stocks” means any of the following: rockfish (genus Sebastes) for which size limits are established under this article, California sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher), greenlings of the genus Hex…

Funding to pay the costs of this article shall be made available from the revenues deposited in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund pursuant to Sections 8587, 8589.5, and 8589.7, and other funds appropriated for these purposes.

Any person taking, possessing aboard a boat, or landing any species of nearshore fish stock for commercial purposes shall possess a valid nearshore fishery permit issued to that person that has not been suspended or revoked, except that when using a boat to take nearshore fish st…

(a) The commission may adopt regulations as it determines necessary, based on the advice and recommendations of the department, to regulate nearshore fish stocks and fisheries. Regulations adopted by the commission pursuant to this section may include, but are not limited to, req…

Funding to prepare the plan pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 7072 and any planning and scoping meetings shall be derived from moneys deposited in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund pursuant to Section 8587 and other funds appropriated for these purposes.

The commission shall temporarily suspend and may permanently revoke the nearshore fishing permit of any person convicted of a violation of this article. In addition to, or in lieu of, a license or permit suspension or revocation, the commission may adopt and apply a schedule of f…

(a) Fees received by the department pursuant to Section 8587 shall be deposited in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund to be used by the department to prepare, develop, and implement the nearshore fisheries management plan and for the following purposes: (1) For research and mana…

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…

For the purposes of this article, “prawns” or “shrimp”, or both, include all of the following species: (a) Spot prawn (Pandalus platyceros). (b) Ridgeback prawn (Sicyonia ingentis). (c) Coonstrip prawn (Pandalus danae). (d) Pacific ocean shrimp (Pandalus jordani). (e) Bay shrimp …

Prawns or shrimp may be taken for commercial purposes under the regulations of the commission.

Except as provided in this article, prawns or shrimp may be taken in any waters of the state.