News Room

Changes to recreational fishing seasons, depth limits and bag limits for a variety of groundfish species will be implemented in 2023.

Significant changes to California’s groundfish sport fishing regulations are expected starting next year, in response to recent scientific information suggesting some nearshore groundfish species are in decline. To reduce pressure on these stocks, fishing seasons will be shorter in nearshore waters, but new opportunities in deeper water are anticipated.

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.

At its December 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.