Title FGC — California Fish & Game Code

Except under a permit or specific authorization, it is unlawful to do any of the following: (a) To take or possess a bird or mammal in a game refuge. (b) To use or have in possession in a game refuge, a firearm, BB device as defined in Section 16250 of the Penal Code, crossbow, b…

Before the commission opens any game refuge for the taking of deer, a public hearing shall be held at which at least one member of the commission shall be in attendance and such officers and employees of the department as are deemed necessary or are requested by interested partie…

(a) It is unlawful to fly any aircraft, including any airplane or helicopter, less than 3,000 feet above water or land over the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, and less than 1,000 feet above water or land over the A:o Nuevo State Reserve, the Farallon Islands Game Refuge, the Point Lobos…

The commission may: (a) Exercise control over all mammals and birds in a game refuge, and exercise control over all fish in a fish refuge. (b) Authorize the department to issue, under any restrictions it deems best, permits that authorize the person named therein to carry, use, a…

The director may appoint the Director of the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge. The Director of the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge may issue a permit to any person under which the person may enter the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge for the purpose of taking fish or marine plants under the condi…

(a) The director may appoint a Director of the Dana Point Marine Life Refuge. (b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no state funds, including, but not limited to, the Fish and Game Preservation Fund, shall be used to pay the compensation or expenses of the Director of…

(a) The director may appoint the Director of the Bodega Marine Life Refuge. (b) The Director of the Bodega Marine Life Refuge may authorize any person to enter the Bodega Marine Life Refuge for the purpose of taking fish, invertebrates, or marine plants for scientific study and t…

(a) The director may appoint the Director of the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life Refuge. (b) The Director of the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life Refuge may authorize any person to enter the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life Refuge for the purpose of…

For the purposes of propagating, feeding, and protecting birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, and reptiles, the commission may do all of the following: (a) Accept, on behalf of the state, donations of an interest in land within a refuge. (b) Accept, on behalf of the state, from a pe…

Any property acquired for game refuges shall be acquired in the name of the State, and shall, at all times, be subject to such regulations as may be prescribed from time to time by the commission for the occupation, use, operation, protection, and administration of such property …

The department shall do all things necessary to secure a valid title in the State to the property acquired for game refuges, but no payment shall be made therefor until the title is satisfactory to the Attorney General and is vested in the State. The acquisition of the property b…

Nothing in this code prohibits the possession of firearms, BB devices as defined in Section 16250 of the Penal Code, crossbows and bolts, or bows and arrows by persons when traveling through any game refuges when the firearms are taken apart or encased and unloaded and the bows a…

It is lawful for a person who has given the notice provided for in Section 10506 to transport a bird or mammal through a game refuge, if lawfully taken outside the refuge, and if the bird or mammal is carried openly and during the time between one hour before sunrise and one hour…

The department and the district attorney, sheriff, and all peace officers of the county in which any refuge or part thereof is situated, shall enforce all of the provisions of this code relating to such refuge, and institute and assist in prosecutions for violations thereof. (Ena…

Any refuge designated as a “fish and game refuge” shall be considered, for the purposes of this division, as both a game refuge and a fish refuge. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

No specification of an open season in any area authorizes the taking of a bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, or reptile from a refuge within that area from which the taking is prohibited by this code.

Except as they may conflict with refuge provisions, the provisions of this code relating to a particular fish and game district shall apply to each refuge lying wholly, or in major part, within the boundaries of the district. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

The department shall cause to be prepared suitable notices to be posted under its direction on each state game refuge, containing a warning to all persons to refrain for the period named therein from violations of the provisions of this chapter relating to state game refuges. (En…

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as prohibiting or preventing a person from taking a bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, or reptile from or on navigable water in a state game refuge.

All state game refuges shall, for all purposes of protecting birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, or reptiles thereon, be under the control and management of the department, and the officers and employees of the department, all game wardens, and law enforcement officers may at all t…

In Mt. Tamalpais Game Refuge, the lawful occupant of privately owned land, or the employees of such occupant, may take on such lands, predatory, or destructive birds and mammals which are not protected or fostered by any of the laws of this State, and are not required to obtain p…

In the Mt. Tamalpais Game Refuge firearms may be possessed and used by members of any high school militia while on the grounds of the high school at which time they may be enrolled. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

In the Mt. Tamalpais Game Refuge, no threatened, endangered, or fully-protected birds or mammals may be taken under any permit issued by the department. Except for wild pigs, it is unlawful to take any bird or mammal under a permit issued by the department unless the person posse…

In the San Francisco Fish and Game Refuge, birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, and reptiles legally possessed may be carried openly by persons traveling through the refuge on public roads, between one-half hour before sunrise and one-half hour after sunset.

Nothing in this division prevents the full use of the land included in the San Francisco Fish and Game Refuge for water supply purposes, nor prohibits any authorized employee of the San Francisco water department from carrying out reasonable measures as may be necessary for the p…

(a) A person involved in oceanographic and scientific research in and around Santa Catalina Island may be authorized by the Director of the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life Refuge to enter the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life Refuge and to anchor or moor a ves…

(a) Except as expressly provided in this division, it is unlawful to enter the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life Refuge for the purpose of taking or possessing any fish or marine plants or to take or possess any fish or marine plants in the Catalina Marine Science Center…

(a) Except as expressly provided in this division, it is unlawful to enter the Bodega Marine Life Refuge for the purpose of taking or possessing any fish, marine invertebrate, or marine plant, or to take or possess any fish, marine invertebrate, or marine plant in the Bodega Mari…

(a) A person may be permitted by the Director of the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge to enter the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge under a permit. (b) The Director of the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge, or any person to whom the Director of the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge has issued a permit und…

Except as expressly provided in this division, it is unlawful to enter the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge for the purpose of taking or possessing any fish or marine plants or to take or possess any fish or marine plants in the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge. Section 10657 and this sectio…

In the San Diego Marine Life Refuge, licensees of the Regents of the University of California and all officers, employees, and students of such university may take, for scientific purposes, any invertebrate or specimen of marine plant life without a permit from the department. (E…

In the California Sea Otter Game Refuge, the lawful occupant of privately owned land, or the employees of such occupant, may possess firearms and traps and may take on such lands any nonprotected bird or mammal, and no permit is required for such taking.

(a) In the Pacific Grove Marine Gardens Fish Refuge, fish, other than mollusks and crustaceans, may be taken under the authority of a sport fishing license as authorized by this code. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, holders of scientific collectors’ permi…

In the Bodega Marine Life Refuge, licensees of the Regents of the University of California and all officers, employees, and students of such university may take, for scientific purposes, any invertebrate or specimen of marine plant life without a permit from the department.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, it shall be unlawful for any person to fire a firearm, but it shall not be unlawful to possess a firearm, in the following areas: All of T. 5 S., R. 5 E., except Sections 1, 2, 11, 12, and 13, of Game Refuge 4D.

In Fish and Game Refuge 4-D the lawful occupant of privately owned lands or the employees of such occupants may possess firearms without a permit.

In the Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Point Fermin, South Laguna Beach, Niguel, Irvine Coast, and Doheny Beach Marine Life Refuges, the following fish, mollusks, and crustaceans may be taken under the authority of a sportfishing license as authorized by this code: abalone, lobster,…

Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, in the Johnsville Game Refuge it shall be unlawful for any person to discharge a firearm or other device capable of killing or injuring any animal. However, it shall not be unlawful for the lawful occupants of privately owned …

In the James V. Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, the following fish and mollusks may be taken under the authority of a sport fishing license as authorized by this code: abalone, rockfish (Sebastes), lingcod, surfperch (Embiotocidae), monkeyface eel, rock eel, white croaker, halibut, ca…

(a) In the Dana Point Marine Life Refuge below the intertidal zone, the following fish, mollusks, and crustaceans may be taken under the authority of a sportfishing license as authorized by this code: abalone (subject to the moratorium imposed under Section 5521), lobster, rockfi…

The people of the State, through their legislative authority, accept the provisions and benefits of the act of Congress known as the “Migratory Bird Conservation Act,” approved February 18, 1929. Upon approval by the commission, they consent to the acquisition by the United State…

Prior to such approval by the commission, the legislative body of the county concerned shall have given its written consent to the commission for the proposed acquisition. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

If in any year, on lands hereafter acquired, the in lieu payments from the United States to the county, pursuant to the provisions of law, do not equal the taxes assessed on a given project, the department shall pay from income derived from hunting privileges on the project an am…

The consent of the State to the acquisition by the United States of land, water, or land and water for migratory bird reservations in accordance with this article, is subject to the condition that the United States conform to the laws of the State relating to the acquisition, con…

The consent contained in Section 10680 continues only so long as the property continues to belong to the United States and is held by it in accordance and in compliance with each and all of the conditions and reservations as prescribed in this article, and is used for the purpose…

With the approval of the commission, the people of the State, through their legislative authority, also consent to the declaration, withdrawal, or determination of any part of any national forest or power site, and do further consent to the condemnation of any lands lying and bei…

The commission may close for the taking of clams not less than eight land miles of pismo clam bearing beaches within San Luis Obispo County as a clam refuge, but not more than 50 percent of any individual pismo clam bearing beach or beaches may be so closed at any time. The commi…

It is unlawful for any person other than a legally constituted peace officer or officer or employee of the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, the department, or of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or county fish and game wardens or their…

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), nothing in this article prohibits access by a person over a road or trail, in an area described in Section 10740, to reach land that person lawfully possesses. A person allowed access over a road or trail pursuant to this subdivision may…

It is unlawful to take any bird or mammal, except a nongame mammal, between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise of the following day at the place of taking, except as otherwise provided in this code or under such regulations as the commission may adopt. Th…