Multi-day Permit Question

January 1, 2015

Question: I have a multi-day fishing permit to use on my personal boat. What is considered a 24-hour day for meeting my daily bag/catch limit? For example, if I am lobster fishing and I catch my limit of seven lobsters before 12:00 am, does a multi-day permit qualify me and everybody onboard my boat at 12:01 am to continue fishing through the night to catch our next day’s limit of lobsters? If not, is a day of lobster fishing considered one complete night so that the next limit of seven lobsters can only be taken the following night? Also, do the same rules apply for fishing, and are all daily bag limits on a 24 hour rotation ending at 12:00 am? If not, then when do they end? (Chris P.)

Answer: A Declaration for Multi-Day Fishing Trip requires that the trip is continuous and extends for a period of 12 hours or more on the first and last days of the trip. If you were fishing or diving for lobster for 12 hours or more before midnight (12:00 a.m.) on the first day of your trip, then you would be able to take your second day’s limit after midnight, as long as your trip extended for at least 12 hours on the second day as well.

The multi-day fishing permit is intended to allow persons fishing offshore, on a trip that lasts multiple days, to catch and keep up to three daily limits of finfish, lobster and rock scallops (in Southern California). In addition, no berthing or docking is permitted within five miles of the mainland shore (California Code of Regulations, Title 14, section 27.15).