How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Recreation
- 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.
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Antlers vs. horns
Q: How are antlers different from horns and pronghorns in ungulate species like deer, elk and bighorn sheep?
A: California is home to ungulate species that have antlers, horns and pronghorns. Deer and elk have antlers, which are made of bone and grow from pedicels, bony supporting structures that develop in the lateral region of an ungulate’s frontal bones (on the top bones of the skull).
Antlers are deciduous which means they shed every year. For most ungulate species, only males grow antlers and typically not until after their first year of life.
However, female caribou and caribou calves do grow antlers. Horns are made of bony core covered in keratin, a structural protein that can be likened to fingernails. Horns occur in bighorn sheep and grow continuously through an animal’s life.
Scientists can generally count growth rings on horns of males to determine an animal’s age, but aging females from horn rings is far less reliable. There are also several herds of pronghorn antelope in California, including on the Carrizo Plain in San Luis Obispo County and throughout northeastern California.
Pronghorns are comprised of a sheath that grows over a bony core. Pronghorn sheaths are deciduous and shed yearly like antlers.
Regulation booklets
Q: Can I still get a paper copy of this year’s hunting and fishing regulations booklets?
A: As part of a broader effort to go paperless, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is transitioning to a digital format for its 2021 hunting and fishing regulations booklets and Big Game Hunting Digest.
Booklets will no longer be printed and shipped to license agents or customers, but electronic versions of the booklets will continue to be available online.
The cost to print and ship booklets is significant, and the money saved by going paperless will be redirected to fish and wildlife conservation.
The transition to paperless regulations booklets follows a two-year effort to reduce the number of hard copy booklets printed and shipped to license agents and is consistent with the governor’s directive to reduce paper usage, which is also good for the environment. As in previous years, digital booklets are available at www.wildlife.ca.gov/Regulations and can be downloaded (and printed from home) as PDFs to your computer, cellular phone or other electronic device.
Hunters and anglers are encouraged to download the digital booklets to their mobile devices and familiarize themselves with the digital format prior to hunting and/or fishing trips.
Iron Gate Fish Hatchery
Q: Is Iron Gate Dam on the Klamath River being torn down? If so, what will happen to the Iron Gate Fish Hatchery and stocking of steelhead trout?
A: Iron Gate Dam is one of four dams on the Klamath River planned to be removed within the next few years. Iron Gate Fish Hatchery, which is operated by CDFW, will remain mostly in place but will not be operational following dam removal.
Only the fish ladder and trap area, which is in the general area of the dam infrastructure, will be removed. A hatchery will be reconstructed and operated on Fall Creek following dam removal. The goal is to help support Coho and Chinook salmon stocks.
Iron Gate Fish Hatchery has not produced steelhead since 2012 and CDFW does not plan on producing them at either hatchery in the future. Klamath River steelhead are very resilient and will re-colonize the new river habitat created by dam removal.
Late season goose hunt
Q: I noticed there’s a late season for goose hunting scheduled from Feb. 20-24. Is that open to public land hunters, or just private landowners?
A: You’re referring to the late goose season for white-fronted and white geese from Feb. 20-24 (five days), except in the Sacramento Valley Special Management Area where the white-fronted goose season is closed, see CDFW’s 2020-2021 Waterfowl Regulations.
During this late goose season, hunting is not permitted on wildlife areas listed in California Code of Regulations, Title 14, sections 550-552, except for Type C Wildlife Areas in the North Central and Central regions.
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Fish and Wildlife
These new flyers will be available in anticipation of the upcoming recreational boat-based groundfish fishery openers that will occur as follows:
– March 1 in the Southern Management Area (Point Conception to U.S./Mexico border);
– April 1 in the Central Management Area (Point Arena to Point Conception);
– April 1 in the San Francisco Management Area (Pigeon Point to Point Arena);
– May 1 in the Mendocino Area (Point Arena to near Cape Mendocino);
– May 1 in the Northern Management Area (Near Cape Mendocino to California/Oregon state line).
RCAs are used in each of the state’s five Groundfish Management Areas (and the Cowcod Conservation Areas) to minimize contact with deeper-dwelling species of rockfish needing protection from fishing.
RCAs are defined by straight lines connecting the waypoints in the order listed in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 50, Part 660, Subpart C.
Recreational take of those groundfish species subject to RCA restrictions is prohibited seaward of these lines regardless of depth.
However, they may be possessed aboard a vessel in transit through these closed areas with no fishing gear deployed in the water.
Anglers fishing for groundfish and non-groundfish species on the same trip are encouraged to review rules on take and possession inside and outside of RCAs.
The new flyers will include an overview cover map, and a series of 38 regional maps detailing the entire California coastline, including offshore islands and banks.
The maps feature the RCA waypoint coordinates and boundary lines as well as the Groundfish Management Area lines. Also included are California’s network of Marine Protected Areas, which may be closed to some or all recreational fishing.
The RCA maps are overlaid on National Ocean Service nautical charts to help anglers compare them to their desired fishing location; however, they should not be used for navigation.
CDFW will also update the online Ocean Sport Fishing Interactive Web Map with the new RCA lines. The web map, when used with a smart phone, will show your current position in relation to the RCA lines and marine protected area boundaries.
Locations can be clicked or tapped to show the current fishing regulations. New features will also include the ability to live-track your position and different selections for the background to better understand the boundaries.
For 2021, the new map products are especially important as changes have been made to waypoints and RCA lines in three of the Groundfish Management Areas – Southern, San Francisco and Mendocino. The changes in each area offer anglers access to deeper depths, meaning more open fishing area when the groundfish season is open.
In the Southern Management Area, the RCA for 2021 increases to 100 fathoms, allowing access to reefs and areas that have not been open to fishing in two decades. Subsequent openers for the San Francisco Management Area at 50 fathoms and the Mendocino Management Area at 30 fathoms are also new opportunities for anglers to venture into deeper depths to access shelf rockfish and deeper nearshore rockfish species.
In the Northern Management Area the RCA depth remains at 30 fathoms, and in the Central Management Area at 50 fathoms.
In addition to the RCA changes and the new map products, anglers should also take note of the sub-daily bag limit of five vermilion rockfish, which is also new in 2021. For more information on this change, please see the FAQ.
Take and possession of bronzespotted rockfish, cowcod and yelloweye rockfish remain prohibited statewide.
Anglers should check CDFW’s website for the current regulations before fishing for groundfish.
For more detailed information on the new 2021 recreational groundfish regulations and to stay informed of in-season changes, please call the Recreational Groundfish Hotline at 831- 649-2801 or visit CDFW’s summary of recreational groundfish fishing regulations for 2021.
For background information on groundfish science and management, please visit CDFW’s Marine Region Groundfish webpage.