Proposed Regulatory Amendments: Rescinding of Select Commercial Groundfish Management Measures, Title 14, Sections 150.06 & 150.16, Ca

Proposed Regulatory Amendments: Rescinding of Select Commercial Groundfish Management Measures, Title 14, Sections 150.06 & 150.16, Ca

Regulatory authority for the commercial groundfish fisheries is shared by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (Department) and federal government, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the states of Oregon and Washington, and the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) to manage West Coast and California groundfish recreational and commercial fisheries, on a sustainable basis. State regulations vary by species/groups and groundfish management area, and are designed to keep harvests within federally-established limits. One of the groundfish species, quillback rockfish (Sebastes maliger), has driven extensive management actions taken recently. Results of a 2021 quillback rockfish data-moderate stock assessment concluded that the population of quillback rockfish off California was in severe decline. The Department adopted emergency regulations that defined the 20-fathom boundary line, and established the commercial California Groundfish Restriction Area (CGRA) and put those in place long-term in early 2025. On June 9, 2025, a draft stock assessment for quillback rockfish off California became available. This new, more robust assessment considered all available data sources, including newly available California-specific life history information, and did not rely on proxy data from other states as the 2021 data-moderate assessment had. The 2025 assessment results indicate that the California quillback stock is healthy and not overfished, a major reversal from the 2021 data-moderate stock assessment. In response to the draft quillback rockfish stock assessment, the Department adopted emergency regulations which rescinded the CGRA and associated 20-fathom boundary line for commercial groundfish fisheries north of 37° 07' N latitude (Año Nuevo) put in place in early 2025 as a result of the 2021 stock assessment and became effective on August 21, 2025. The emergency rulemaking also extended federal trip limits for non-nearshore groundfish stocks into state waters north of 37° 07' N latitude. For this Project, the Department proposes to amend commercial groundfish fishing regulations as set forth in Sections 150.06 and 150.16 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations through a certificate of compliance action to make permanent these emergency regulations currently in place, including: 1. rescind the CGRA and associated 20-fathom boundary line north of 37° 07' N latitude (Año Nuevo, San Mateo County); and, 2. extend federal trip limits for non-nearshore groundfish stocks into state waters.

statewide

Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo, Yuba

Statewide

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Baldwin Hills Conservancy (BHC), California Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy (CVMC), California Coastal Commission (CCC), California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC), California Department of Conservation (DOC), California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), California Department of Education, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bay Delta Region 3 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Cannabis Program (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Central Region 4 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Habitat Conservation Planning (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Inland Deserts Region 6 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Marine Region 7 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, North Central Region 2 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Northern and Eureka Region 1 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, South Coast Region 5 (CDFW), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), California Department of Justice, Attorney General's Office, California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, California Department of State Parks, Division of Boating and Waterways, California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), California Department of Transportation, District 1 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 10 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 11 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 12 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 2 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 3 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 4 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 5 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 6 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 7 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 8 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, District 9 (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Aeronautics (DOT), California Department of Transportation, Division of Transportation Planning (DOT), California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Energy Commission, California Fish and Game Commission (CDFGC), California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Natural Resources Agency, California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Coast Region 3 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Fresno Region 5 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Redding Region 5 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Sacramento Region 5 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Colorado River Basin Region 7 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Lahontan South Lake Tahoe Region 6 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Lahontan Victorville Region 6 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region 4 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, North Coast Region 1 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region 9 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region 2 (RWQCB), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region 8 (RWQCB), California San Diego River Conservancy (SDRC), California San Joaquin River Conservancy (SJRC), California Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC), California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), California State Lands Commission (SLC), California Tahoe Conservancy, California Transportation Commission (CATC), Central Valley Flood Protection Board, Colorado River Board, Delta Protection Commission, Delta Stewardship Council, Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), Department of General Services (DGS), Office of Historic Preservation, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC), Santa Monica Bay Restoration, Sierra Nevada Conservancy, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 1, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 10, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 11, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 12, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 13, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 14, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 15, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 16, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 17, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 18, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 19, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 2, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 20, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 21, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 22, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 23, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 24, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 25 (SWRCB), State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 26, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 27, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 28, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 3, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 4, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 5, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 6, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 7, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 8, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 9, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Quality, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights, State Water Resources Control Board, Divison of Financial Assistance, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), University of California Natural Reserve System (UCNRS)

Other (Commercial fishing)

None, proposed regulation

Aesthetics, Agriculture and Forestry Resources, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Energy, Geology/Soils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Land Use/Planning, Mandatory Findings of Significance, Mineral Resources, Noise, Population/Housing, Public Services, Recreation, Transportation, Tribal Cultural Resources, Utilities/Service Systems, Wildfire