News Archive

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is now accepting applications for a limited number of deer and wild pig hunting access permits for opening weekend, Aug. 9 and 10, 2025, in Merced County (Zone A) for the general season. This is not a special hunt; the drawing is to control the number of hunters in these areas on opening weekend only.

While low Chinook salmon counts have called for the continued closure of Chinook salmon fishing in the Klamath River Basin and mainstem Sacramento River, Chinook fishing opportunities will be allowed in three inland Central Valley rivers for the first time in two years.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced today the release of a brand-new mapping tool designed to provide regular location information on GPS-collared gray wolves in California to help prevent wolf-livestock conflict.

State health agencies determined that Pacific sardine sampled off Southern California contained elevated levels of domoic acid and recommended a fishery restriction for Southern California for the commercial and recreational take of sardine for human consumption in the area.

In a significant shift of California’s salmon strategy, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has begun releasing juvenile fall-run Chinook salmon from CDFW-operated hatcheries into the main stem of the Sacramento River for the first time.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has made the difficult decision to cease hatchery operations at the Mad River Fish Hatchery in Humboldt County. A combination of increased regulatory burden and a lack of flexibility, aging infrastructure, significant and necessary costly repairs and maintenance, modernization needs, and low fish production and returns forced the decision to close the steelhead trout hatchery just east of Arcata.

CDFW May Calendar of Events

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) National Archery in the Schools Program (CalNASP) is excited to announce the 2025-26 grant cycle is now open.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is pleased to present The Conservation and Management Plan for Bighorn Sheep in California.

Following a recommendation from state health agencies, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced the reopening of the commercial rock crab fishery in northern California from the California/Oregon border (42° 00.00’ N. Lat.) to the Humboldt Bay entrance at the north jetty (40° 46.15’ N. Lat.). This area has remained closed for nearly a decade following a domoic acid outbreak and lack of sampling effort in subsequent years.