News Room

A San Diego County judge recently imposed a $5,000 fine on a Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel (CPFV) operating in a Marine Protected Area (MPA), CDFW announced.

CDFW announces multiple changes to recreational rockfish sub-bag limits which are expected to take effect Jan. 6, 2022. The emergency regulations were adopted by the California Fish and Game Commission in mid-December to align with federal regulations for these species.

CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham has closed the recreational razor clam fishery in Del Norte County following a recommendation from the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, which, in consultation with the California Department of Public Health, determined that the consumption of razor clams taken from Del Norte County poses a significant threat for domoic acid exposure.

Recreational Dungeness crab trap fishing in Fishing Zone 3 (Sonoma/Mendocino county line to Pigeon Point) will open under a Fleet Advisory beginning at 9 a.m. this Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.

Fishing Zone 4 (Pigeon Point to Lopez Point) will open for recreational Dungeness crab trap fishing under a Fleet Advisory beginning at 9 a.m. on Dec. 10, 2021. The commercial fishery will open in Zone 4 under a Fleet Advisory and Depth Constraint at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 16, 2021, with a pre-soak period to begin at 8:01 a.m. on Dec. 13, 2021.

A five-month-long investigation on a commercial lobster poaching suspect concluded with a conviction in Los Angeles County Superior Court, CDFW announced.

Humpback whales have migrated out of Fishing Zones 1 and 2 and crabs there have passed quality testing, which means that the commercial fishery north of the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the Oregon state line will open on Dec. 1, giving commercial crabbers the opportunity to get crab on tables and menus before the year is out.

The recreational take of Dungeness crab using crab traps, hoop nets and snares is allowed starting tomorrow, Nov. 6, 2021, in Fishing Zones 1 and 2 (from the Oregon state line to the Sonoma/Mendocino county line) and in Fishing Zones 5 and 6 (the area south of Lopez Point, Monterey County).

The recreational take of Dungeness crab using crab traps in Fishing Zones 3 and 4, (from the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to Lopez Point) will be temporarily restricted when the season opens on Nov. 6 due to presence of humpback whales and leatherback sea turtles and the potential for entanglement from trap gear.

New regulations adopted by the Fish and Game Commission authorize the CDFW Director to restrict the use of crab traps in the beginning and end of the recreational Dungeness crab season due to marine life entanglement risk