Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 12, March 22, 2024
Freshwater crayfish may not be taken for commercial
purposes except in accordance with the following regulations:
(a) Licenses and Permits Required.
(1) Crayfish may not be taken for commercial
purposes except under a revocable, nontransferable, numbered permit issued by
the department. The applicant for a permit shall submit the fees and the
completed application, as specified in Section
705, to the address listed on the
application. Persons taking crayfish for a fee under the authority of a
scientific collector's permit do not need to have this permit.
(2) Except for those taking crayfish for a
fee under the authority of a scientific collector's permit, every person who
takes, assists in taking, possesses or transports crayfish while on any boat or
vessel, or who uses or operates or assists in using or operating any boat,
trap, or other appliance to take crayfish, must have a valid crayfish permit
issued to him and must be in possession of said permit while engaged in any of
such activities.
(3) Crayfish may
not be taken for commercial purposes for human consumption except under the
authority of a commercial fishing license. Commercial fishermen taking crayfish
shall also comply with requirements of the Fish and Game Code relating to
commercial fishing vessel registration and other applicable commercial
laws.
(4) Crayfish may not be taken
as live bait for commercial purposes except under the authority of a live
freshwater bait fish license.
(5) A
crayfish permit may be revoked or suspended, for a period not to exceed one
year, by the commission for violation of any of the terms of the permit or
provisions of law relating to the taking of crayfish by the permittee or his
agent, servant, employee, or person acting under his direction and control.
However, any person who has had such a permit revoked may be required by the
commission to appear before it and no new permit may be issued to such person
unless the commission finds that such issuance will be in the best interests of
the crayfish resource.
(6) The
permit number of the person owning or in command of any boat used to take
crayfish shall be visibly displayed on both sides of the boat in 10-inch black
numbers, one-inch wide, on a white background.
(b) Records. The department may require
persons taking crayfish for commercial purposes to keep an accurate, complete
record of daily fishing operations on forms provided by the department. If so
required, the original copy of the completed forms, recording one month's
fishing activity, shall be mailed to the department by the fifth day of the
following month.
(c) Fishing Area
and Season.
(1) Area: Crayfish may be taken
for commercial purposes only in the following counties or portions thereof
except that no crayfish shall be taken in any lake or reservoir within the
county:
(A) Tehama, Glenn, Butte, Colusa,
Sutter, Yuba, Yolo, Sacramento, Solano, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Stanislaus,
Merced, Kings, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino,
Riverside, San Diego and Imperial counties.
(B) Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Amador,
Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa counties west of Highway 49.
(C) Madera, Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties
west of the westerly boundaries of the National Park or National Forest
lands.
(2) Open Season:
All year.
(d) Restricted
Sale.
(1) Crayfish taken under the authority
of a commercial license and a crayfish permit may be used only for human
consumption and may not be sold, purchased or traded for any other use, except
that they may be sold to a registered aquaculturist.
(2) Crayfish taken under the authority of a
live bait fish license shall be used only for bait purposes and shall not be
sold, purchased or used for any other purpose.
(e) Size Limit.
(1) No live crayfish of the genus
Pacifastacus less than three and five-eights inches (92mm) in
length from tip of nose (acumen) to tip of tail (telson), measured in a
straight line ventral side up, may be taken commercially, except an allowable
percentage of unacceptable (dead or undersized) Pacifastacus
in any load or lot shall not be more than 10% by number.
(2) With the exception of the 10% allowable
unacceptable crayfish, all other undersized Pacifastacus shall
be returned unharmed to the waters from which taken. Such crayfish shall be
sorted and returned immediately following processing of any trap or trap line
before pulling additional traps or before returning to any dock or
landing.
(3) The processing plants
may not possess any cooked crayfish of the genus Pacifastacus
which are less than three and one-half inches (89 mm) in length from the tip of
nose (acumen) to tip of tail (telson), measured in a straight line ventral side
up, except an allowable percentage of undersized Pacifastacus
shall not be more than 5% by number of the total crayfish received at the
processing plant during the day or processing.
(4) Any undersized
Pacifastacus taken to the processing plant shall be returned
to the water from which they were taken within twenty-four hours from the time
of arrival at the processing plant. Either the processor or a commercial
fisherman shall return the crayfish. Such crayfish shall be maintained alive
and in good condition until they are released.
(5) There is no minimum size limit on
crayfish of the genus Procambarus or the genus
Orconectes.
(6) To
determine the percentage of unacceptable crayfish of the genus
Pacifastacus which are either dead and/or less than the
minimum size limit fixed by this section, samples shall be taken from various
portions of the load or lot and shall be measured and counted. The mean of the
combined counts of all samples taken shall be used to determine the percentage
of unacceptable Pacifastacus in the load or lot. Samples shall
be taken in containers of not less than one gallon size approximately full of
Pacifastacus. At least three such samples shall be taken from
any load or lot.
(f)
Female Crayfish. Any female crayfish carrying eggs (berried crayfish) or young
shall be returned unharmed to the water at the time the crayfish are
sorted.
(g) Methods of Take.
Crayfish may be taken only by hand, hook and line, dip net not over six feet in
greatest diameter or with a trap not over three feet in greatest
dimension.
(h) Trap Identification.
All crayfish traps shall be permanently tagged with a visible, metal tag
bearing the crayfish permit number of the fisherman. Any person pulling or
raising crayfish traps bearing a permit number other than his own must have in
his possession written permission to pull the traps from the person who holds
the crayfish permit number identifying such traps.
(i) Buoys. Each person taking crayfish for
commercial purposes shall designate a trapping area with at least two buoys,
one at either end of a trap line; however, the buoys do not have to be attached
to the trap line. Such buoys shall be spaced not less than 200 feet, nor more
than 1,200 feet apart. The upstream buoy shall be painted red and the
downstream buoy white. When single traps are employed such traps shall be
individually buoyed with a minimum spacing of 200 feet between traps. Buoys for
single traps shall be painted yellow. Each buoy shall bear the permit number of
the fisherman in a color that contrasts with that of the buoy. The permit
number on the buoy shall be at least 1 ½ inches in height and all
markings shall be at least one-quarter inch in width.
(j) Containers. Any container used to hold or
transport live crayfish shall be vented at the bottom. The depth of crayfish in
such container shall not exceed 13 inches.
(k) All crayfish traps must be raised and
processed at least once every 72 hours. Traps not processed within this time
limit shall be considered abandoned and shall be subject to seizure by
department personnel.
(l)
Scientific and Educational Use.
(1) Each
person who collects crayfish for a fee for scientific and educational purposes
shall have a commercial fishing license, and each boat used for this purpose
shall be registered as a commercial fishing vessel. However, if a fisherman is
collecting crayfish of the genus Pacifastacus he must also
have a scientific collecting permit (see section
650, title 14, CAC, for the
requirements).
(2) A qualified
scientific supply house shall issue a market order to each fisherman before the
fisherman collects crayfish. Each market order shall specify the collecting
locality, and the duration of that market order. Each fisherman shall have a
market order in his possession when collecting crayfish.
(3) The fishing area and season fixed in
subsection (c) and the minimum size limit fixed in subsection (e) of this
section shall also apply to the fishermen collecting crayfish for a fee for
scientific and educational purposes.
1. New
section filed 6-6-75; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 75, No.
23).
2. Amendment filed 1-28-76; effective thirtieth day thereafter
(Register 76, No. 5).
3. Amendment of subsections (a)(5) and (e)
filed 3-16-77; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 77, No.
12).
4. Amendment of subsections (e)(1), (e)(2) and (h) filed
5-10-79; designated effective tenth day thereafter pursuant to section
215,
Fish and Game Code (Register 79, No. 19).
5. Repealer and new
section filed 10-19-81; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 81, No.
43).
6. Amendment filed 8-3-82; effective thirtieth day thereafter
(Register 82, No. 32).
7. Amendment of subsection (d)(1) filed
9-15-83; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 83, No.
38).
8. Amendment of subsection (a) filed 4-18-91; operative 5-18-91
(Register 91, No. 21).
9. Repealer of subsections (a)(5)-(6),
subsection renumbering and amendment of newly designated subsection (a)(5)
filed 12-14-2007; operative 1-13-2008 (Register 2007, No. 50).
10.
Amendment of subsection (a)(1) and NOTE filed 10-5-2010; operative 11-4-2010
(Register 2010, No. 41).
Note: Authority cited: Sections
713,
1050
and
8491,
Fish and Game Code. Reference: Sections
713,
1050,
8491
and
15101,
Fish and Game Code.
