News Archive

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Charlton H. Bonham has assessed entanglement risk under the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP) and announced changes to both commercial and recreational Dungeness crab fisheries. These changes, which will go into effect at 6 p.m. on April 15, 2025, are intended to provide continued fishing opportunities while minimizing entanglement risk as humpback whales return to forage off the coast of California.

In a collaborative effort to increase the sustainability of California's salmon populations, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has partnered with the Department of Water Resources (DWR), as well as ocean and inland fishing groups to continue a pilot project aimed at diversifying salmon hatchery release strategies.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) invites the public to attend its annual Salmon Information Meeting (SIM) via webinar on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, at 10 a.m. Meeting details, informational materials, and instructions for attendance will be published in advance of the event on CDFW’s Ocean Salmon webpage.

The recreational fishery for Dungeness crab is open in the portion of northern California that was delayed due to a public health hazard. State health agencies determined that consuming the meat of Dungeness crab taken in waters from the California/Oregon border (42° 0.00’ N latitude) to the southern boundary of the Reading Rock State Marine Reserve (41° 17.6’ N latitude) no longer poses a significant threat for domoic acid exposure.

The Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) approved 24 habitat protection and restoration projects spanning 25 counties across more than 21,600 acres at its Nov. 21 quarterly meeting. One of the grants restores 67 acres of wetland, riparian, and upland habitat at Carr Lake in the heart of the city of Salinas, providing much needed open space to a community area with limited access to parks and nature.