Recreation

Details

Written by: Editor

Published: 08 November 2014

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) will open the Central California commercial Dungeness crab season on Saturday, Nov. 15, south of the Sonoma/Mendocino county line.

The season opener will be preceded by an 18-hour gear setting period when crab trap gear can be set no earlier than 6 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 14.

The 2014-15 commercial Dungeness crab season marks the second season of the Dungeness crab trap limit program.

The program consists of seven tiers of trap allotments ranging from 175 to 500 traps.

Dungeness crab vessel permit-holders can only fish the maximum number of traps within their respective trap tier as a means to control the maximum number of total traps fished in California waters.

For more information on the Dungeness crab trap limit program, please visit www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/invertebrate/traplimit.asp .

Details

Written by: Carrie Wilson

Published: 07 November 2014

Local gooseneck barnacles on the menu?

Question: I have a question about gooseneck barnacles.

In the Fish and Game regulations it states that gooseneck barnacles cannot be taken or possessed at any time. Can you tell me why?

I have spoken with California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) biologists and they did not know why but suggested I contact you.

Currently, the only legal way you can obtain them is by purchasing them in a dish at a high-end restaurant. The barnacles sold in these dishes are imported from Spain.

I collect mussels in season and the barnacles are nearly as prolific as the mussels, and in the same locations as the mussels. (Curt H., San Francisco)

Answer: I suspect that as with so many of our regulations, goosenecks were not included with the inverts that can be taken because no one spoke up when the list was made to say, “Hey, people eat goosenecks!”

California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 29.05 lists those animals that may be taken within the intertidal zone, and no barnacles (including gooseneck barnacles) are included.

These regulations are reviewed and often amended every two years and the Fish and Game Commission could consider adding barnacles to those animals that can be taken.

Feel free to contact the commission with your request ( www.fgc.ca.gov/ ). They would ultimately decide if goosenecks could be added.

Can my estate sell my hunting gear as furniture?

Question: Can my estate sell my collection of all of my old hunting gear that I have collected over the years as a piece of furniture?

I have an old hat rack with the following items on it: My father’s old hunting hat and his brother’s old hunting hat, my father’s old hunting coat and his duck strap.

On the coat are some old hunting licenses (1930s and 1940s), various duck pins, plus 1920 and 1942 Ducks Unlimited pins, and collections of duck bands on a cord. There are also some old pheasant tags/permits in one of the pockets from this same era.

What I’m most proud of is the duck strap that contains nine different species of mounted ducks hanging by their necks. They include: hen shoveler, blue wing teal, gadwall drake, pintail drake, widgeon drake, green wing teal drake, wood duck drake, ring necked duck drake and a small cross-bred duck.

I am aware that you can’t sell mounted birds by themselves, but as they are part of the piece of furniture, can they be part of the total value and all sold together?

All of this vintage hunting stuff belonged to my father and uncle, but I know once I pass on, no one else in my family will have any interest in keeping the stuff.

I hope my estate will be able to sell this whole collection of treasures as a piece of furniture so as to not have to break it all up and lose the duck mounts. (Bob S., Modesto)

Answer: What a great collection!! Unfortunately, as you suspected, you cannot sell the ducks. Your best bet would be to sell the other items and donate the ducks. You could perhaps take the ducks out of the collection all together but then donate the strap of birds to the person who buys the other items.

Mobile deer stand?

Question: I have a deer stand that lifts up and down using a hydraulic ram mounted in the back of my truck.

Is this legal in the state of California? The only way to use it is if the truck is on flat ground and not moving. (Anonymous)

Answer: Unless you qualify for a disabled hunting license, the law prohibits shooting any game bird or mammal from a motor vehicle (Fish and Game Code, section 3002). This provision also applies to a vehicle-mounted deer stand.

A legal alternative might be if the stand could be mounted onto a trailer that could then be detached from the vehicle.

Sibiki rig for bait while rock fishing

Question: While fishing for rockfish we would like to have a small rod set up with a sibiki rig to catch bait fish.

Do we need to remove the extra hooks and only use two hooks when fishing for bait with rockfish on board? Thanks (Dave P.)

Answer: Yes, when rockfish, lingcod, cabezon or kelp or rock greenling are aboard or in possession, only one line with not more than two hooks may be used (California Code of Regulations Title 14, sections 28.55, 28.27, 28.28 or 28.29, respectively.)

Carrie Wilson is a marine environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. While she cannot personally answer everyone’s questions, she will select a few to answer each week in this column. Please contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Details

Written by: Editor

Published: 05 November 2014

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is providing several pheasant hunting opportunities at Northern California Type A wildlife areas for 2014.

The general pheasant season opens on Nov. 8 and extends through Dec. 21, 2014.

For the 2014 hunting season, wildlife areas are open for pheasant hunting as follows:

Type A wildlife areas in the Sacramento Valley (Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, Delevan National Wildlife Refuge, Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, Gray Lodge Wildlife Area, Upper Butte Basin Wildlife Area's Little Dry Creek and Howard Slough Units and Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area) will be open for pheasant hunting on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays, and only the first Monday (Nov. 10) of the pheasant season.

Grizzly Island Wildlife Area will be open for pheasant hunting on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays, and only the second Monday (Nov. 17) of the pheasant season.

While the Llano Seco Unit of the Upper Butte Basin Wildlife Area is closed for waterfowl hunting as a result of the drought, it will be open for pheasant hunting on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays during the general pheasant season.

Permits for entry will be issued at the check station through the morning lottery which begins at 4 a.m., with the draw occurring at 4:30 a.m.

Entry is also available through first-come, first-serve lists at the check station.

Type A wildlife areas in the San Joaquin Valley (Los Banos Wildlife Area, Mendota Wildlife Area, North Grasslands Wildlife Area, Volta Wildlife Area and San Luis National Wildlife Refuge) will be open for pheasant hunting on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays only during the pheasant season.

Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge will be open for pheasant hunting on the first Monday of the pheasant season (Nov. 10).

The Wister Unit of Imperial Wildlife Area in Imperial County and San Jacinto Wildlife Area in Riverside County will be closed to pheasant hunting this year.

Type C wildlife areas will remain open as normal.

In 2010, CDFW reduced the number of days that certain wildlife areas will be open for pheasant hunting due to a decline the number of hunters targeting pheasant and the cost to operate check stations during the first week of the season. This reduction remains in effect.

In response to the continued decline, CDFW is entering the second year of working with Pheasants Forever and the United States Geological Survey to implement pheasant population assessments and identify factors limiting their populations to develop potential management actions.

The modifications of the shoot days on Type A wildlife areas are pursuant to the California Code of Regulations, Title 14, subsections 550(i)(1).

For more information on specific hunting opportunities, hunters should contact their regional CDFW office, https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Regions .