California and Feds Set to Roll Back Bottom-Fishing Restrictions

An angler-assisted stock assessment has revealed that California’s quillback rockfish populations were never overfished, prompting fishery regulators to lift current severe depth restrictions in the Golden State. Courtesy California Department of Fish and Wildlife

A new eye-opening 2025 stock assessment of California bottom fish in general and quillback rockfish in particular has spurred state fishery managers, acting in coordination with the National Marine Fisheries Service, to withdraw many of the draconian seasonal depth restrictions for recreational fishing instituted two years ago when quillbacks were deemed “overfished.”

In a presentation to the California Fish and Game Commission on August 14, 2025, California Department of Fish and Wildlife staff biologist Thompson Banez said that the recently completed assessment stands in contrast to the previous one conducted in 2021. New science indicates that the quillback rockfish stock is healthy, and so the current severe regulatory restrictions are no longer necessary, Banez said. Lifting of restrictions for both state and federal waters is expected to take effect in April 2026.

The current restrictions have proved especially onerous on ocean anglers in central and northern California, resulting in what amounted to a de facto total closure of bottom fishing over the past few years. With the easing of restrictions, California anglers will be allowed to fish all depths through December 2025. The only exception is off Southern California, where current regulations will stand, allowing bottom fishing in all depths from April through June, in less than 300 feet from July through September, and in waters greater than 300 feet from October through December.

That said, quillback rockfish will remain protected, with anglers required to descend any that they catch. The assessment also revealed that stocks of canary rockfish are “precautionary,” and so there will likely be a two-fish sub-bag limit for canaries next year. There has been no sub-bag limit for canary rockfish for the past few years.

Providing substantial assistance to the cash-strapped CDFW in developing the new, more-accurate stock assessment were the Sportfishing Association of California (SAC), which represents the party boat industry; and the Coastside Fishing Club (CFC), which represents ocean anglers in the central and northern portions of California; and the Golden Gate Fishermen’s Association, which represents anglers in the San Francisco Bay area.

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Methodologies for gathering data included underwater drone surveys and specially permitted catch-and-release data-collection programs carried out in coordination with the party boat fleet and other boating anglers within California’s marine protected areas.  

“The finding of this work revealed that quillback rockfish were never overfished,” said George Osborn, lobbyist for CFC, speaking before the Commission. That opinion was echoed by Merit McCrae, staff scientist for SAC. “It never got below the overfished threshold,” McCrae testified before the Commission.

Members of the Commission in attendance on August 14, including President Erika Zavaleta, all agreed. “We were wrong,” Zavaleta said. “This rectifies that. It is a great example of being responsive to new data.”

For the latest updates, wildlife.ca.gov.

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