News Archive

The California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) has approved the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan, a living document that aims to conserve western Joshua trees pressured by habitat loss and a warming climate. Other matters acted on by the Commission at its Aug. 13-14 meeting include designating Quino checkerspot butterfly as a candidate species under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), and adopting emergency regulations to reopen recreational rockfish, cabezon, greenling and lingcod fisheries north of Point Conception.

The California Fish and Game Commission adopted emergency changes to the state’s groundfish regulations so that recreational ocean fisheries are no longer constrained by quillback rockfish.

Recent results from white sturgeon monitoring surveys by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) suggest the white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) population has continued to decline. CDFW fisheries biologists now estimate there are approximately 6,500 white sturgeon between 40-60 inches long in California – down sharply from the previous estimate of approximately 30,000 fish in that size range, based on the 2016-2021 survey average.

This year you can catch an opportunity to fish throughout California without a fishing license on two Free Fishing Days — Saturday, July 5, and Saturday, Aug. 30.

Last week the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) continued its decision on the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan to its August meeting to allow more time for public and stakeholder review of recent revisions to the draft plan. The June 11-12 meeting of the Commission also brought Butte County Deputy District Attorney Michael Tufaro to Sacramento to be recognized as 2024 Wildlife Prosecutor of the Year.