Collecting Sea Palm That’s Washed Up on the Beach

October 23, 2014

Question: If I find some sea palm washed up on shore, can I keep it? I know you can’t pick sea palm recreationally, but since this was already dead, I see no harm in gathering. But is it legal? I know you can keep bull kelp when it washes up, so I was wondering if this was similar. (Hank S.)

Answer: The law prohibits cutting or disturbing sea palm (CCR Title 14 section 30.10). While possession of dead sea palm is technically not prohibited, removing live sea palm from the water would likely result in a citation.

If it were me I believe I'd take a photo of it lying on the beach before it was disturbed to "prove" I collected it after it was already dead... CYA and all.

basically any possession of sea palm (except in a retail package) is cause to get hassled. Note how cleverly the regs state "while not technically prohibited". That's a disguise  for "may cause enough trouble to ruin your afternoon" to me.

just got to gnaw on it while it's still attached to the rock 

You can buy a harvester's license from DFG $100 per year if you want to harvest sea palms. I think you have to log your harvest. Sell for about $40 a lb