02-20-04
Department of Fish and Game
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Tom Barnes, Marine Region, (858) 546-7167
Marci Yaremko, Marine Region, (805) 568-1220
Carrie Wilson, Marine Region, (831) 649-7191
Recreational Lingcod Minimum Size and Bag
Limits to Change To comply with new federal recreational fishing
regulations expected to be effective April
1, 2004, the California Department of Fish and Game
(DFG) is recommending an increase in the
lingcod minimum size limit to 30 inches, and a reduction
in the daily bag limit to one fish. The new
regulation changes will apply to recreational anglers fishing
for lingcod in all waters off California
. The DFG will make this recommendation to the Fish
and Game Commission at the Commission's March
4-5, 2004 meeting in Redding , when the Commission
will consider taking emergency action to
conform to the new federal regulations.
The regulation changes are necessary to ensure that catches
of lingcod in California remain at or within the coastwide
acceptable harvest levels. The lingcod stock off the coast
of California, Oregon and Washington has been formally classified
as overfished by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC), and is currently
managed under a rebuilding plan to achieve recovery of the stock. A key element
of the rebuilding plan is to constrain catches to levels that allow the stock
to increase to a healthy level within a specified period of time. In 2002 and
2003, coastwide lingcod catches have well exceeded allowable levels needed
to achieve rebuilding of the stock.
"While the Department is reluctant to make in-season changes
to recreational size and bag limits, this was the only feasible
way to keep catches within allowable levels short of prohibiting
all take of lingcod," said Patty Wolf,
DFG Marine Regional Manager. "This management approach continues to provide
some fishing opportunity for lingcod throughout the remainder of the year,
and allows those anglers who catch large fish to retain them."
The DFG anticipates by increasing the minimum size limit to
30 inches and reducing the allowable daily bag limit to one
lingcod per person, California 's lingcod catches will be held
to the allotted amount for the recreational fishery. Current
regulations allow two fish per person at a minimum size of
24 inches.
Public testimony will be allowed during the March 4-5 Fish
and Game Commission meeting. The need for additional measures
has been determined in part from new information on fishing
during the last part of 2003 which was not available to managers
when the current regulations were established prior to the
start of the 2004 season.
