The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) will become the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), effective Jan. 1. The new name was mandated by AB 2402, which was signed Sept. 25 by Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. and is one of numerous provisions passed into law during 2012 that affect the department....read more...

The "locavore" movement helps America’s farmers. Could it also help our fishing industry?

Two new NOAAⁱ Sea Grant studies will look at how new business models, based on the success of community supported agriculture, could benefit fishing communities in Washington, Oregon, and California....read more...

The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) invites the public to attend a meeting to discuss the management of California’s Pacific halibut fisheries. The meeting will be held on May 16, 2012 at the Humboldt Bay Harbor Recreation and Conservation Districtⁱ Conference Room, 601 Startare Drive in Eureka, from 6 to 8 p.m.

DFG staff will provide current information on Pacific halibut management and ocean fisheries in California, and will discuss the possible need for changes in the recreational fisheryⁱ in 2013. The public is encouraged to provide input to managers and representatives which will aid in the development of future Pacific halibut management....read more...

OLYMPIA – Sportfishing seasons for halibut will be four days longer in Puget Sound, and more fish will be available for harvest early in the season off the state’s southern coast under catch quotas for 2012 adopted by the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

Although the state’s recreational catch quota is down slightly from last yearⁱ, Puget Sound anglers will get an extra day to catch the big flatfish during the Memorial Day weekend and three additional days during the course of the season. ...read more...

OR - Oregon's Legislature appears poised to add three no-fishing marine reserves off the coast, designating what amounts to 38-square-miles of ocean wilderness despite continued concerns from fishing groups.

Coastalⁱ legislators from both parties have signed off on Senate Bill 1510, in part because they fear ocean conservation groups might otherwise push a statewide ballot measure to put much more of Oregon's biologically rich territorial sea off limits. ...read more...

CDFGⁱ - The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) invites the public to attend its annual salmonⁱ status update and outlook meeting in February. The outlook for 2012 ocean and river fisheries will also be discussed.

This year’s meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 28 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.at the Sonoma County Water Agency, 404 Aviation Blvd. in Santa Rosa....read more...

OR - Oregon sport anglers will see an 8.7 percentⁱ increase in the Pacific halibut quota for the upcoming season, and state fish managers are asking the public for help in crafting how the season will play out in the halibut-rich waters of the central Oregon Coast.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will hold meetings Monday, Feb. 13, in Newport and Wednesday, Feb. 15, in Salem to gather input on how to divvy that quota between the spring and summer all-depth fisheries....read more...

OLYMPIA — The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted a variety of new sportfishing rules and increased the number of multiple-season hunting permits for deer and elk issued each yearⁱ during a public meeting here Feb. 3-4.

The commission, a nine-member citizen panel appointed by the governor to set policy for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFWⁱ), adopted new fishing rules for the 2012-13 season that will:...read more...

The California Fish and Game Commissionⁱ today took final action to reject proposed changes to striped bass regulations.

In a unanimous decision, Commissioners voted not to pursue a proposal that would have changed sport fishing regulations related to anadromous striped bass, including increasing bag limits and decreasing size limits....read more...

NOAAⁱ - As part of NOAA's ongoing work to improve the accuracy of and confidence in recreational fishing data, NOAA Fisheries and leading experts in the field have developed a new peer-reviewed method for calculating recreational catch estimatesⁱ. The new technique addresses a major recommendation made by the National Research Councilⁱ for improving our recreational data collection program and fulfills an important mandate of the Magnusonⁱ-Stevens Act...read more...

NOAAⁱ announced today the designation of additional critical habitat to provide protection for endangered leatherback sea turtles along the U.S. West Coast. NOAA is designating 41,914 square miles of marine habitat in the Pacific Ocean off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington.

This designation will not directly affect recreational fishing, boating and other private activities in critical habitat....read more...

The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) reminds anglers they are required to return their 2011 Fishing Report and Restoration Cards by Jan. 31. Information collected from report cards provides DFG with data to monitor and manage California’s diverse recreational fisheries....read more...

CA - As expected, all anglers venturing into Mexico on fishing trips – by sea or by land -- now are required to obtain a visa in order to fish there due to an immigration law enacted recently in May by the Mexican government.

Mexican authorities are expected to begin enforcing the visa requirements on Jan. 1 with randomⁱ checks of commercial passenger fishing boats and private boats in Mexican waters....read more...

NOAAⁱ - Everyone – commercial and recreational fishermen, NGOs, Councils, Congress and NOAA – knew it would be a heavy lift to put accountability measures and catch limits in place for all federally managed fisheries. Five years ago this week the Magnusonⁱ Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act reauthorization was signed into law and required just that – catch limits for all federally managed fisheries. Well, 2012 is here and weⁱ are almost fully over the goal line. Yes, there are a few stragglers, but I can report that all federal fisheries will have catch limits in place in time for the 2012 fishing season....read more...

OR - January is traditionally a time to reflect on the yearⁱ just past, and to look forward as well. For many of the men and women who fish off Oregon's coast, this monthⁱ marks an especially important milestone.

One yearⁱ ago, Oregon's commercial groundfishⁱ trawlers, based out of Astoria, Newport, Coos Bay and Brookings embarked on the 2011 fishing season under an entirely new fishery management program known as a "catch share" system. The new system was the product of years of painstaking public process involving the Pacific Fishery Management Councilⁱ, fishermen, scientists, seafood processors, community leaders and members of the environmental community....read more...

OLYMPIA - The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider increasing the number of multiple-season hunting permits available each yearⁱ after hearing public comments on the issue at a meeting scheduled Jan. 6-7 in Olympia.

The commission, which sets policy for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFWⁱ), also will accept public comments on proposed changes to the 2012 sportfishing rules, but will not take action on those proposals until its regular meeting in February. ...read more...

Every yearⁱ, more than 12 million Americans enjoy saltwater recreational fishing along our coasts. More than just a traditional American pastime and contributor to conservation, saltwater recreational fishing is a major economic driver, generating more than $50 billion in sales and supporting more than 326,000 jobs a yearⁱ. The Regional Recreational Fishing Action Agendas, released today, focus NOAA’s attention on regional-level activities that ensure the contributions from recreational fishing are sustained into the future....read more...

As summer and fall fishing taper (or, the past few days, crumble) away for trout, bass and panfish, some anglers turn their attention to the Oregon Coast.

Greenling, cabezon, surfperch, even lingcod and crabs are all available yearⁱ-round for anyone, even those without a boat.

Tyler Carpenter of Wilsonville, however, has a fresh video to prove a little caution is in order....read more...

The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) asks anglers to use special techniques and extra vigilance to help conserve California’s green and white sturgeon. Both species are caught by anglers in a popular sport fishery centered in the San Francisco Estuary, but anglers need to be aware of special regulations in place to protect the long-term health and growth of the species.

White sturgeon are a substantial management concern and green sturgeon are a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. ...read more...

The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) will hold a public workshop to review its proposal to change sport fishing regulations related to striped bass. The workshop will be held Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. at theRioVistaCity Hall,One Main Streetin Rio Vista

The proposal is supported by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAAⁱ) Fisheries and is intended to help recover several fish species listed under theCaliforniaand federal Endangered Species Acts. The proposed changes affect the striped bass bag, size and possession limits. ...read more...

The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) asks anglers to use special techniques and extra vigilance to help conserve California’s green and white sturgeon. Both species are caught by anglers in a popular sport fishery centered in the San Francisco Estuary, but anglers need to be aware of special regulations in place to protect the long-term health and growth of the species.

White sturgeon are a substantial management concern and green sturgeon are a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. ...read more...

Oregon fishermen are disappointed in a season that many had forecast to be a banner yearⁱ.

NEWPORT — This was supposed to be the yearⁱ David Kimball made a decent living as a salmonⁱ fisherman.

The 34-yearⁱ-old Newport troller has worked as a skipper on other people’s boats in years past, the years where returns from the feeder rivers that drive Oregon’s salmonⁱ run were so decimated that the federal government declared an economic disaster in the fishery...read more...

NOAAⁱ has selected Oregon State University (OSU) to continue a federal/academic research partnership that extends NOAA’s ability to study marine resources in the Pacific Northwest. The award means that NOAA will continue funding the Cooperative Institute for Marine Resource Studies (CIMRS), which was established at Oregon State in 1982, for at least five and up to 10 more years.

...read more...

OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFWⁱ) will accept written public comments through Dec. 30 on rule proposals for the 2012-13 sportfishing season in Washington.

As part of that effortⁱ, WDFW has scheduled four public meetings in October to discuss its rule proposals with the public. ...read more...