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2005 Sport Fishing Regulations Supplement Now Available Online

Marine Management News
Ready for salmon season? Got your 2005 Ocean Fishing Regulations booklet in hand? Not so fast! If you haven't read the Regulations Supplement booklet, now available on the Departments Marine Region Web site at www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/oceanfish2005supp.pdf , you may not be as ready as you think!

For more information about groundfish regulations, go to www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/bfregs2005.html

Contact: Ed Roberts, Marine Biologist, (562) 342-7199

The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is making it easier for sport anglers to stay informed about current ocean fishing regulations with the introduction of a new hotline. Thanks to this new
service, most of California's ocean bottomfishing regulations are now just a phone call away. DFG has developed the Recreational Groundfish Fishing Regulations. Hotline at (831) 649-2801. Using a touch tone keypad, anglers can now get the latest groundfish regulations information over the phone, and
with a cell phone, it's possible to get this information while at sea. To use the hotline, anglers simply need to know where in the state they plan to fish, and the groundfish species or species groups they will be
targeting or are likely to catch.

California Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations Update for July 1, 2005

ROCKFISH, CABEZON, GREENLINGS, LINGCOD, AND OTHER FEDERAL GROUNDFISH

The recreational fisheries for rockfish, cabezon, greenlings and other federal groundfish will be open to boat-based anglers from July 1 through December 31, 2005 , in the North-Central and Monterey South-Central Management Areas (40 degrees 10 minutes North latitude, near Cape Mendocino in Humboldt county, to 36 degrees 0 minutes North latitude, near Lopez Point in Monterey county). The recreational fisheries for these species are open year-round to divers and shore-based anglers. The recreational fishery for lingcod will be open to boat-based anglers from July 1 through November 30, 2005 in both of these Management Areas; the fishery is open from April through November 30, 2005 to divers and shore-based anglers.

These species may only be taken or possessed in waters less than 120 feet (20 fathoms) deep in both of these Management Areas.

The following regulations apply:

· The daily bag and possession limit for rockfish is 10 fish within the RCG Complex (includes all species of Rockfish, Cabezon and Greenlings) in combination of all species per person, with a sub-limit on bocaccio (2 per person in the Northern Management Area, 1 per person everywhere else, minimum size limit of 10 inches total length, also included in the 10 fish RCG Complex aggregate limit). Yelloweye rockfish, canary rockfish and cowcod may not be retained (bag limit: zero).

· The daily bag and possession limit for cabezon is 1 fish within the 10 fish RCG Complex aggregate limit, with a minimum size limit of 15 inches total length.

· The daily bag and possession limit for greenlings is 1 fish within the 10 fish RCG Complex aggregate limit, with a minimum size limit of 12 inches total length. · The daily bag and possession limit for lingcod is 2 fish, with a minimum size limit of 24 inches total length.

· Refer to the 2005 California Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations for bag and possession limit information for individual federal groundfish species, as well as area-specific depth restriction exceptions for this species group.

Note - the recreational fishery for rockfish, cabezon, greenlings, lingcod and associated species may close early if the annual harvest guidelines for any one specie or species group is met prior to the end of the year. See the 2005 California Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations for complete information, including gear restrictions and fillet requirements.

Get the latest recreational groundfish fishing regulations information by telephone. Call (831) 649-2801 from your touch-tone telephone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

ABALONE

The recreational fishery for red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) north of the mouth of San Francisco Bay is closed from July 1 through July 31, 2005, and will reopen August 1, 2005 . The recreational fishery for all species of abalone is closed year-round south of the mouth of San Francisco Bay.

DUNGENESS CRAB

The recreational fishery for Dungeness crab (Cancer magister) will be closed from the Mendocino-Sonoma county line to the California-Mexico border from July 1 through November 4 , and will reopen on November 5, 2005.

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Californians Turn In Poachers. Call (888) DFG-CALTIP (334-2258) to report illegal poaching and polluting, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Remain anonymous, collect a reward.

Interesting Website

When I do this newsletter I always run into interesting stuff. It's what pretty much keep me doing this. Here's a fun one for you. I haven't gotten the webcams to come up but his list of dive sites seem worth further checking out. Rocky Entries @ http://www.sonic.net/~rocky/index.htm

New Breathing Apparatus

Alan Bodner, an inventor from Israel announced that he has successfully developed a breathing apparatus that enables scuba divers to breathe underwater without oxygen tanks. It utilizes the relatively small amounts of air that already exist in water to furnish life-maintaining oxygen to divers and as well as submarines.