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Recreation
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- Written by: Carrie Wilson
Question: Our class is working on invasive species and would really appreciate it if you could help us with one question.
How does the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) help with the control of feral pigs?
If you could email us back the answer, we would greatly appreciate it (The Alien Hunters or Pam K.).
Answer: It is great to hear from young citizens who are interested in wildlife issues and are actively seeking to educate themselves about these topics!
According to DFG Statewide Wild Pig Program Coordinator Marc Kenyon, the California Legislature in 1957 classified the wild pig as a game mammal which then allowed the DFG to manage them as wildlife and regulate their harvest.
The DFG is the agency with responsibility over game animals in the state and because this classification is in statute, only legislative action could change it.
However, the California Fish and Game Commission, a separate entity, has recognized that damage from wild pigs does occur and to that end, a policy has been put into effect that states:
“The wild pig population of the state must be controlled to minimize the threat of increasing damage to California’s native plant and animals, to agricultural operations and to park and recreational activities from the foraging habits of the animals. Consistent with State law and regulations, the DFG will prepare and recommend to the Commission regulations which enhance recreational hunting and facilitate the issuing of depredation permits and/or other legally available means to alleviate this problem.”
Please visit the Fish and Game Commission’s website to understand the difference between the Department of Fish and Game and the Fish and Game Commission: www.fgc.ca.gov/public/information/ .
Similar to the commission, the DFG works to minimize the impacts pigs cause.
To achieve this, we work with private citizens, other government organizations and natural resources conservation partners to, among other things: 1) curtail the spread of wild pigs; 2) protect agricultural, archaeological and environmental resources and private property from damage caused by wild pigs; and 3) facilitate the removal of pigs causing damage.
To curtail the spread of wild pigs, our wardens enforce laws that restrict the intentional movement of wild pigs from one area to another.
We also enlist the help of sport hunters. By educating hunters about the locations of pigs in the state, we feel that we can direct hunters to areas of the state that either have new populations of pigs or serve as “source populations.”
To protect our state’s precious resources and private property, we have worked with conservation partners and private landowners alike to facilitate the construction of wildlife-friendly but pig-resistant fences to exclude pigs from certain areas.
For example, we are working with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to construct a fence that will exclude pigs from newly restored riparian habitat in Colusa County.
The DFG may issue ‘”depredation” permits to authorize the permit holder to use lethal control methods to reduce the number of wild pigs on their property and in turn reduce the amount of damage caused. The DFG encourages property owners to allow sport hunters to hunt wild pigs.
Based on surveys of sport hunters and returned sport hunting wild pig tags, the DFG believes that roughly 5,000 to 10,000 wild pigs are killed each year by sport hunters.
Over the last 10 years, an average of 55,062 wild pig tags have been sold each year. This has resulted in average revenue each year of nearly $800,000, which helps to fund our management activities.
As you can see, the State Legislature, the Fish and Game Commission and the Department of Fish and Game are dedicated to managing wild pigs to reduce their spread and the damage they cause.
We rely on our lawmakers to craft intelligent laws, our biologists to understand the species, and our wardens to catch the law breakers. We all work as one unit to control wild pigs.
Crab hawk traps
Question: I bought a “crab hawk-like” castable crab trap at a major sporting goods store in Northern California.
Can I use this in San Francisco Bay or in the ocean? I have used this same trap in Washington State. (Cris C.)
Answer: No, crab hawk traps are not legal to use in California.
For crab regulations, please check the crustaceans section of the current Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations booklet, available wherever sport fishing licenses are sold, at your local DFG office, and online at www.dfg.ca.gov/regulations .
Carrie Wilson is a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game. While she cannot personally answer everyone’s questions, she will select a few to answer each week. Please contact her at
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- Written by: Editor
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Brendan Maninger, 14, competed at the Navarro Karate Championship in Pacifica on Nov. 10.
After winning his age 14-15 Brown/Black division, Maninger went on to compete in the Grand Championship Tournament with more than 500 athletes.
Competing against male black belts and one grand champion, Maninger earned the title, “Overall Champion.”
In addition to these important wins, Maninger will be receiving an award from the Gold Cup Competition Circuit that ranks fighters throughout California, for placing second overall in the state for the Gold Cup Division.
Maninger trains at Cummins Karate Club Clearlake under the direction of Master Larry Cummins.
Maninger’s proud father, Brian Maninger, is an assistant instructor at Cummins Karate Club.
Master Cummins reports that this resounding success comes as no surprise since Brendan is an exceptional student with great attitude, discipline and focus.
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- Written by: Editor
NORTH COAST, Calif. – An all women’s team from Ukiah Valley Medical Center, team “Hares,” recently won first place in the female category in the California International Marathon.
They also won overall champion for each corporate team who participated.
Listed front row and back row along with their splits:
- 5.9 miles: Sue Passalacqua, 43:48;
- 7.6 miles: Joanna Bay, 1:08:50;
- 7.0 miles: Jaimie Jacobson, 1:02:06;
- 5.7 miles: Lindsey Spencer, 1:02:50.
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- Written by: Carrie Wilson
Question: Is it legal to drift down or anchor a boat in a river to hunt for waterfowl?
The river is in the “Balance of the State” zone and is surrounded by unincorporated privately-owned farmland, with the occasional house or barn visible from the water.
I know you cannot discharge a firearm within 150 yards of a dwelling or near a public road, and I know that all motors must be out of the water. Would drifting be considered forward motion? (Anonymous)
Answer: Drifting is not considered “under power.” What you describe would be legal as long as you access the river from a legal access point, and once you’re hunting, your motion is not due to momentum provided by the motor before it was turned off.
You must also take into account the retrieval of the birds you take. Should you take a bird that lands on private property that you do not have the authority to access, you run the risk of a hunting trespass for retrieval, or waste of game if you do not retrieve it.
Also, you need to remember not to discharge a firearm within 150 yards of an occupied dwelling, and these may be difficult to see from the river.
Finally, there may be other state or local ordinances and regulations (such as no shooting zones) or other restrictions that may prevent you from hunting the section of water you want to hunt.
Returning female Dungeness crabs
Question: I was surprised to discover the current regulations do not say female Dungeness crabs must be thrown back.
Has there been a change in the long standing regulation that required this? Is it now legal to keep the female Dungeness crab, providing all other stipulations are met (size, season, limit, zone)? (Kurt H.)
Answer: Yes! Sport fisherman may keep the female Dungeness crab – commercial fishermen must throw them back.
Since the females are often much smaller and less meaty than the males and lack the large claws, many fishermen toss them back so they can reproduce more young for future generations.
The larger females that meet the minimum size requirements also carry the most eggs and produce the most offspring, so it’s beneficial for the population to let the females go. However, there is no law that compels you to do so.
How to legally display mountain lions?
Question: I read where Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed into law a bill allowing the mounting and display of these animals in California. Does that mean that mountain lions taken in other states can be brought into California for mounting and display? (Peter B., Los Angeles)
Answer: No, it is still illegal to import mountain lions.
Fish and Game Code section 4800, which was enacted via an initiative measure in 1990, provides that mountain lions are specially protected mammals that cannot be taken or possessed except under limited circumstances related to public safety or protection of property.
SB 769, which amended the law in 2011, now allows for the possession of a mountain lion carcass, but only if all of the following requirements are met:
- The lion was legally taken in California;
- The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has specifically authorized the possession for the purposes of SB 769; and
- The carcass is prepared for display, exhibition, or storage, for a bona fide scientific or educational purpose, at a nonprofit museum or government-owned facility generally open to the public or at an educational institution, including a public or private postsecondary institution.
Only mountain lions taken for depredation or public safety reasons in accordance with the Fish and Game Code will fall within the SB 769 exception allowing possession of displayed mountain lions.
Yo-yo fishing
Question: I know jug fishing, yo-yo fishing and the use of trotlines with 20+ hooks per line are the norm in the South.
I am interested in yo-yo fishing in California for catfish and possibly trying a two-jug trotline with 10 to 12 hooks on the line to catch catfish.
My question is: In California, are private (non-commercial) fishermen limited to just one line with three hooks max? In reading the regs, it seems that an extra pole endorsement is just that, for an extra pole, not an extra line. (Mark H., San Bruno)
In regard to yo-yo fishing and trotline fishing, here is an article from 2007 Outdoor Life: www.outdoorlife.com/articles/fishing/2007/09/tackle-free-fishing .
Answer: You must closely attend your lines at all times and you are limited to two lines with a maximum of three hooks on each line with a two-pole stamp. Otherwise, you must use a single line with three hooks maximum when fishing bait, or three lures per line which could each have three hooks.
It is illegal to allow lines to simply fish themselves while attached to a float. For a similar previous question and answer, please go to: http://californiaoutdoors.wordpress.com/2008/11/ .
Carrie Wilson is a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game. While she cannot personally answer everyone’s questions, she will select a few to answer each week. Please contact her at