Recreation
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Red abalone stocks continue to be impacted by large-scale die-offs in this area due to the collapse of the bull kelp forest, which is their primary food.
At its December meeting, the Fish and Game Commission extended the fishery closure for an additional five years to 2026.
The commission closed the fishery in 2017 because of the mortality of red abalone populations due to environmental stressors.
The current poor environmental conditions and depressed abalone stock were caused by a series of large-scale ecological impacts.
These included a massive marine heatwave and El Niño in 2014-2016, the local extinction of sunflower sea stars due to disease and subsequent population expansion of purple sea urchins.
The result was a major shift from a robust healthy bull kelp forest ecosystem to one dominated by sea urchins with little kelp or other algae. Such conditions lead to starvation and mass mortalities of abalone, which need kelp to survive.
While the presence of persistently stable sea urchin-dominated areas is not a new phenomenon in California, the more than 200 miles of poor conditions across the north coast is unprecedented.
An Interim Action Plan for Protecting and Restoring California’s Kelp Forests was developed to guide the state’s efforts to help understand and improve the situation.
Several projects are focused on reducing purple sea urchin populations at strategic areas of the coastline. The goal is to create patches of healthy bull kelp that will provide a source of kelp spores that may lead to recovery of the kelp forest when environmental conditions become favorable.
Recovery of bull kelp forests and the diverse ecosystem they support will take time. Thus, the extension of the abalone fishery closure is needed to allow for recovery and protection of surviving abalone.
When reopening of the fishery is considered, it will be guided by the Red Abalone Fishery Management Plan, which is currently under development.
Learn more about the Red Abalone Fishery Management Plan.
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Q: I read about a person in Riverside County who tried to capture a wild donkey but was stopped by the sheriff’s office and game wardens. What is the legal status of wild donkeys? Why can’t I go out and capture one and re-domesticate it? How do you tell the difference between a wild donkey and a domesticated one?
A: You may be surprised how much effort has been put into establishing the legal status of donkeys!
The California State Legislature enacted Fish and Game Code section 4600 to make it unlawful to kill, wound, capture or have in possession any wild donkey, known legally as an “undomesticated burro,” with a few exceptions noted below.
An undomesticated burro means a wild burro or a burro which has not been tamed or domesticated for a period of three years after its capture. The fact that a burro was killed, wounded or captured on publicly owned land, or on land owned by a person other than the person who killed, wounded or captured the burro is prima facie evidence that the burro was an undomesticated burro at the time it was killed, wounded or captured.
The Legislature went further and included in Fish and Game Code section 4600 a provision that states that the California Fish and Game Commission, or any other department or agency, does not have the authority to modify the section.
Government Code section 53074.5 offers three primary exemptions. The first exemption is at the request of a landowner, officer or employee of a local animal control agency who may remove an undomesticated burro that strays onto private land. The second is when an officer or employee of a local animal control agency needs to remove an undomesticated burro that strays onto a public roadway to ensure public safety. The third occurs if an officer or employee of a local animal control agency may provide medical care or treatment, including, but not limited to, euthanasia if medically appropriate, to an undomesticated burro that is seriously ill or injured.
Two-way radio
Q: Is it legal to use a two-way radio while hunting in California? Some states do not allow this, do you know the reason why? (Tosh)
A: California law does not prohibit use of two-way radios during hunting. Those who oppose using two-way radios may feel that they provide an unfair advantage when stalking and hunting wildlife. Currently, California has no such law, so radios and cell phones are legal.
Finding lead-free ammo
Q: Because of the pandemic, there has been a lot of issues finding lead-free ammo. Will there be any exceptions this year to California requiring lead-free ammo for hunting? (Tyler)
A: Nonlead ammunition is required when taking any wildlife with a firearm anywhere in California. That requirement originated with state legislation signed into law in 2013 and, therefore, cannot be suspended, changed or altered by either the California Department of Fish and Wildlife or the California Fish and Game Commission.
The ammunition shortage you reference is actually a nationwide situation impacting the availability of lead and lead-free ammunition of all kinds. The shortage is the result of several factors – high demand brought about by millions of new gun owners, fear prompted by the global pandemic (resulting in panic-buying and hoarding), supply chain and workforce issues impacting the manufacturing process also brought about by the global pandemic, among other issues.
The best advice we can offer California sportsmen and women is to plan ahead – far in advance of any hunting seasons or trips in order to acquire the ammunition you want and need. The days of quickly grabbing a couple of boxes of hunting loads at the neighborhood sporting goods store on your way to a hunting trip are largely over.
The upside is that there are more and better-performing lead-free ammunition offerings being developed and introduced every year.
You’ll likely need to call or check with a variety of retail outlets to find the ammunition you need. You can also shop and order ammunition online – you’ll just need to have it shipped and processed by an individual or a business with a Federal Firearms License or a California Ammunition Vendor License before you can pick it up. These businesses typically charge a small handling fee for this service.
As the bulk of California’s big game and bird hunting seasons are still some months away, we expect the amount and availability of lead-free hunting ammunition to improve as these seasons approach.
For more information, please consult CDFW’s Nonlead Ammunition in California webpage.
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
All other areas of the California coast will remain closed until further notice.
The remaining 2021 season dates and associated regulations will be finalized next month.
Although the San Francisco and the Fort Bragg management areas were originally scheduled to open in April, on the advice of salmon fishery representatives, the Pacific Fishery Management Council, or PFMC, made the decision to delay the openers in these areas to limit ocean fishery impacts due to poor stock forecasts.
Both Klamath River fall Chinook and Sacramento River fall Chinook have reduced ocean abundance forecasts for the 2021 season compared to long term averages, and the PFMC is taking steps to ensure that enough salmon will return to rivers this fall to meet spawner abundance goals.
Traditionally, fishing in the Monterey management area is better early in the season, prompting recreational fishing representatives to prioritize its opening ahead of areas to the north.
Although seasons for the San Francisco, Fort Bragg and Klamath management areas are not yet known, the season alternatives that are currently under consideration prioritize opportunity later in the summer, when catch rates are typically better.
Final season dates will be decided during the virtual PFMC meeting to be held April 6 to 9 and 12 to 15.
The public is invited to comment on the PFMC’s season proposals at that meeting or at a virtual public hearing scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23.
Details on how to attend the PFMC meeting, public hearing, and ways to provide public comment can be found on the PFMC website at www.pcouncil.org.
Anglers are advised to check for updated information when planning a salmon fishing trip. Season dates, bag/possession limit information and gear restrictions can be found on CDFW’s ocean salmon web page at www.wildlife.ca.gov/oceansalmon or by calling the Ocean Salmon Regulations Hotline at 707-576-3429.
Public notification of any in-season change to conform state regulations to federal regulations is made through the National Marine Fisheries Service ocean salmon hotline at 800-662-9825.
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The guidance has been updated to authorize any youth or adult recreational sports team, including indoor sports, to begin practice with contact and competition at any time if they adhere to the specific requirements applicable to college sports under the COVID-19 Industry Guidance for Institutions of Higher Education.
“Our top priority is supporting youth sports to safely return to play, guided by science,” said Dr. Tomás J. Aragón, CDPH director and State Public Health officer. “Our previous guidance accomplished this by allowing competition in sports with lower risk of transmission to begin sooner if conducted outdoors, which is lower risk than indoors.”
Thursday’s update specifies that teams can return to competition earlier than otherwise authorized under the previous guidance, which was issued on Feb. 19, 2021, but only if they adhere to the stricter requirements in place for college teams.
The previous guidance, which incorporated mitigation steps that can reasonably be implemented by youth and amateur teams that do not have the same resources available to them as professional and college teams, has no additional substantive changes.
As the updated guidance reflects, college teams are subject to rigorous testing requirements around each competition for contact sports, teams in all sports must have contact tracing protocols in place and coordinate with local health authorities, and all teams must develop site-specific plans for each facility the team uses, among other requirements not applicable to youth and recreational teams.
This update resolves uncertainty created by a court order issued in a lawsuit recently filed in San Diego, which created significant confusion for youth and their families and led to rushed returns to competition that put young people’s health at risk. This update also helps to ensure no one is unnecessarily distracted from the important work of supporting youth sports to safely return to play.
This update does not generally authorize indoor youth sports to resume. Rather, teams can return to competition only if they implement and adhere to the rigorous requirements in place for college teams.
How to resolve AdBlock issue?