California Outdoors Q&A

Question: I run a six-pack charter boat business and we often hoop net for crab and lobster. My deck hands and I make money by cleaning our passengers catch. This includes both rock crab and lobster. We always wait until we make landfall before we tail the bugs. This year the new regulations say: (e) Spiny lobsters shall be kept...
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Question: I have picked up a number of empty abalone shells and pieces of shells from various beaches to use for making jewelry. It's obvious that they have been sitting in water empty for a while because the inside shows weathering from the saltwater. I know it is not legal for abalone divers to sell the meat or the shells of the abalone, but...
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Question: I see on many websites that you cannot take female Dungeness, but I see in the regs no comment about females. Have the rules changed now allowing females to be kept? (E.J. K.) Answer: Recreational fisherman may keep female Dungeness crab - commercial fishermen must throw them back. Since the females are often so much smaller and less meaty than the males,...
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Question: What is the legal method of take for rock scallops and are there any size limitations? Am I allowed to scuba dive for rock scallops? (Lee C.) Answer: You may use scuba to take rock scallops. The daily bag and possession limit is 10 rock scallops per person and there are no size limits. They may be taken by hand...
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Question: We keep our sailboat in the Alamitos Bay Marina and recently have been seeing an osprey perching on another sailboat mast across from ours. This same bird was there last year and there was another osprey flying around with him. This year he is the only one there and he just cries and cries and gets no answer....
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Question: Once I arrive home with sport-caught lobster in a measurable condition, am I permitted to freeze the tails and discard the bodies? (Ben W.) Answer: If you tailed the lobster at home and then froze it, you would be in possession of a lobster in an unmeasurable condition. The law requires you to keep the head attached to the...
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