Is It Legal to Sell Sport-caught Fish?

February 19, 2009

Question: Is it legal to take sport-caught fish to a tackle shop/distributor and trade them in for fishing tackle or trade with any other business (restaurant) for that matter? I have heard of quite a few people doing this with all sorts of fish caught from sport boats and private boats. (Walter L.)

Answer: No. Fish caught under the authority of a sport fishing license cannot be bought, sold, traded or bartered in any manner (FGC Section 7121). If you have knowledge that an illegal activity is going on, I encourage you to contact our CalTIP line at  888-334-2258 to report it. You should provide as much information as you can that will help law enforcement in its investigation, such as locations, names, descriptions of the people, vehicle information, the time of day, where the violations are occurring, etc. Your report will be confidential and you may be eligible for a reward of up to a $500 if your tips result in convictions for the crime.