Do We Toss Our Dead Fish Back to Stay Legal?

December 24, 2009

Question: We often take three-day fishing trips on a private boat and always get the multi-day fishing trip permits to cover us. The multi-day permits require the trip to be continuous and to extend for a period of 12 hours or more on the first and last days of the trip, and berthing or docking within five miles of the mainland shore is prohibited. Since we do a lot of fishing within five miles of the shore, can we anchor and fish or sleep within five miles of the mainland as long as we don’t berth our boat or touch land or a dock? What do we do if we get our limit and a storm comes in before noon on the last day? Do we throw our dead catch over so we can get to shore safely and still be legal or do we keep them even if technically we’ll then be over the limit? Thank you. (Don F.)

Answer: Anglers can fish within five miles of the mainland, but berthing (anchoring) or docking is prohibited and anglers must disembark at the place of return as stated on the declaration form (California Code of Regulations Title14, section 27.15). These permits were originally designed more to cover people who are fishing many miles offshore for multiple days (like for tuna and the more long range species) who cannot easily get back to the dock each night.

According to Game Warden Jason Chance, every mariner and boat operator is  responsible for planning out their trips in advance – especially trips that will encompass multiple days at sea. If you plan your trip according to weather forecasts, it’s relatively unlikely that you’ll be caught off-guard by a sudden storm. By continuously monitoring your marine radio for ongoing NOAA weather forecasts and hazardous conditions updates, and then Channel 16 for any emergency U.S. Coast Guard announcements, you should not be surprised by changing weather conditions.

Of course, if poor weather conditions appear to be imminent, use your best judgment as to whether to continue or to immediately end your trip. Remember that safety should always come first, and attempting to avoid a ticket is not worth risking lives nor creating what becomes an emergency rescue situation. But be aware that wasting fish (in this case dumping dead fish overboard) is a violation of the law (CCR Title 14, section 1.87), so do not consider this an option.

Since when is anchoring at sea considered berthing?

I thought the multiday permits allowed you to possess more than one bag limit...but based on the question, it sounds like they were keeping more than the daily bag limit (like keeping 15 rockfish day one then 5 more on day two).