News Room

The first of California’s two Free Fishing Days in 2022 is coming up over the Independence Day holiday weekend.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director has re-opened the recreational razor clam fishery in Del Norte County following a recommendation from state health agencies that the consumption of razor clams in the area no longer poses a significant threat for domoic acid exposure.

Since approximately May 13, 2022, several Southern and Central California wildlife rehabilitation facilities from San Luis Obispo County south to San Diego County have been admitting hundreds of California brown pelicans, a fully protected species in California

California’s recreational ocean salmon season is underway, and so is the CDFW ocean salmon monitoring program. Anglers are encouraged to assist CDFW employees or agents who ask about their trip or request to examine the catch, as the information collected is essential to the science needed to support continued ocean salmon fishing opportunities in future years.

Earlier this year, the California Fish and Game Commission adopted regulatory changes to increase the length of the seasonal closure and create a bag and possession limit for grunion, an iconic species found in California and Baja California.

At its April meeting the California Fish and Game Commission acted on several issues affecting California’s natural resources. The following are just a few items of interest from this week’s meeting held in Monterey and Trinidad, with an option for the public to join via Zoom.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announces California recreational ocean salmon fishing season dates are now set for the remainder of 2022 and offer about the same number of open days as last year.

CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham has assessed entanglement risk under the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP) and announced the closure of the commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Fishing Zones 1 and 2 (Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the Oregon state line) effective at noon on April 20, 2022.

CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham has assessed entanglement risk under the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP) and announced the closure of the commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Fishing Zones 3, 4, 5 and 6 (Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the U.S./Mexico border) effective at noon on April 8, 2022.

California’s recreational salmon fishery will open April 2 in ocean waters from Point Arena south to the U.S./Mexico border, with a minimum size limit of 24 inches. Openings for north of Point Arena will be determined in mid-April.