“Don’t Blame Me … the Fish Did It!”

February 3, 2010

Question: Can someone be cited for the inadvertent stomach contents of their catch? As an example, a typical cabezon belly might contain a couple of 3-inch abalone, crabs and/or octopus. Is it a violation to have the abalone (and crabs and octopus if it is in a no-invertebrate take zone) in possession? Another example would be a ling with a big rockfish in his belly. Could the stomach contents place you over the 10 fish RCG complex (rockfish, cabezon and greenlings) possession limit? (Craig G.)

Answer: This situation would be the same as if you caught an undersize or prohibited species unintentionally while fishing. According to Lt. Dennis McKiver, you are required to discard or return to the sea any prohibited species as soon as you discover you have caught a prohibited species. Although you would not be required to remove and inspect the stomach contents of all fish you catch to make sure the fish did not contain a prohibited species, if the fish regurgitates a prohibited species you would not be allowed to retain possession of that prohibited species. You must return it to the ocean even if it is dead.

In your last example, it would be the same as if you had 10 rockfish in possession and continued to fish for lingcod. If you caught a rockfish, you would have an overlimit and would be required to return it to the ocean. Let’s say you were legally fishing for lingcod with two hooks and you caught a lingcod on one hook and a rockfish on the other. You would be required to return the rockfish if you already had a limit in possession. If you are fishing for rockfish and lingcod and you catch a lingcod that contains a rockfish and then you choose to keep the rockfish from the ling’s stomach in your possession, that rockfish becomes part of your rockfish bag limit.

A similar problem occurs when anglers catch surf perch, a species that carries live young. During their spawning season a caught fish may discharge their young as they die or when handled. The angler may then be in possession of more than the 10 surf perch limit of one species, but wardens clearly understand this biological phenomenon.

If you are fishing for rockfish and lingcod and you catch a lingcod that contains a rockfish and then you choose to keep the rockfish from the ling’s stomach in your possession, that rockfish becomes part of your rockfish bag limit.