News Archive

Last week, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) increased the northern pintail bag limit to three for the first time in almost 30 years. While population estimates are sufficient to support more pintail hunting opportunities, depleted population estimates for the recreational barred sand bass fishery called for the Commission to reduce a five-fish bag limit to four. The Commission took these and other actions affecting California’s natural resources at its April 16-17 meeting in Sacramento.

Salmon are swimming again in the North Yuba River for the first time in close to a century. The fish are part of an innovative pilot project to study the feasibility of returning spring-run Chinook salmon to their historical spawning and rearing habitat in the mountains of Sierra County.

As part of statewide efforts to help Californians and wildlife recover from the Southern California fires, on Jan. 23 the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and its partners rescued 271 endangered Southern California steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) from Topanga Creek, the last known population of this species in the Santa Monica Mountains.

CDFW today announced the selection of 15 projects that will receive funding for the restoration, enhancement and protection of salmon and steelhead (anadromous salmonid) habitat in California watersheds. The total funding for these projects amounts to more than $15 million in grant awards.

CDFW has returned California’s only native sunfish – the Sacramento perch – to its namesake city and county, recently stocking 3,000 mostly juvenile fish into a pond at Granite Regional Park to create a unique urban fishing opportunity.