California’s Anglers Help Defeat Proposed Regulations that Threatened Lake and Pond Fishing
On December 15, 2011, the California Fish and Game Commission (FGC) rejected proposed regulations that would have had a significant impact on California's freshwater anglers. If approved, these regulations would have forced lake, pond and hatchery owners to perform costly environmental surveys on every lake or pond that stocks fish, which could be well over $100,000 per body of water. California's anglers knew that these regulations meant decreased freshwater fishing opportunity and increased costs associated with fishing at private ponds, and they voiced their outrage to the FGC.
More than a thousand California anglers sent messages through KeepAmericaFishing™ to the commission opposing these onerous regulations – thank you to everyone that took action!
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Background
Fee-for-fishing lakes are a popular means for anglers to enjoy the sport and share it with their family and friends. These lakes are especially important to anglers living in urban areas that may not have access to quality streams and lakes for fishing.
As a result of a 2006 lawsuit, the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) was ordered to perform rigorous environmental evaluations for the state's hatcheries and stocked ponds. The DFG went beyond this court order – and beyond the department's jurisdiction – and proposed that these regulations apply to all privately operated hatcheries and stocked ponds. Private ponds have long been exempted from the state's fish stocking permit requirements and private fish hatcheries have safely operated for over 100 years.
If these proposed regulations had been enacted, they would have placed a significant financial and regulatory burden on private lake owners and other recreational fishing-dependent businesses. Some of the regulations that were under consideration had exorbitant fees associated with them that would have made fish stocking financially unfeasible and forced many private lakes out of business. For those private lakes that were not put out of business by the fees associated with these rigorous protocols, they would have been forced to significantly increase the cost for visiting anglers like you.
California Anglers Take Action
The FGC considered these onerous regulations during its December 15, meeting and rejected them with a unanimous decision. Prior to the meeting, the commission received over 1,000 messages from anglers in opposition to the proposed regulations through KeepAmericaFishing™. These regulations could not have been defeated without the strong efforts of anglers like you.
KeepAmericaFishing will continue to monitor this issue and work to ensure that threats to freshwater recreational fishing in California are minimized.
