News Release: Commercial Cabezon Fishery Trip Limit Decreases September 1

August 16, 2007

Robert Leos, DFG Marine Region, (831) 649-2889
Deb Wilson-Vandenberg, DFG Marine Region, (831) 649-2892

The commercial cabezon trip limit for September-October will change beginning Sept. 1. The cumulative trip limits for these two months will be reduced from 900 pounds to 200 pounds for each nearshore fishery permit holder. This will allow the 2007 season to continue through the end of the year. The trip limit for the November December period remains at 100 pounds.

According to the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), the decrease in the two month cumulative trip limit for the commercial cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus) fishery applies to the entire state and is effective for the period Sept. 1 - Oct. 31, 2007.

Recent landing receipts and dockside tabulation efforts indicate the statewide commercial fishery will reach the 2007 commercial allocation of 59,300 pounds as early as mid-September without this change. Last year the DFG made the same September-October in-season adjustment allowing the fishery to remain open for the remainder of the year.

Cabezon are a nearshore fish found throughout California's coastal areas and are an important species in the state's nearshore commercial live fish fishery, as well as the recreational fishery. In December 2003, the Fish and Game Commission adopted regulations giving DFG the authority to make in-season adjustments to the cumulative two month trip limits to sustain the commercial cabezon, greenling, and California sheephead (CGS) fisheries.

Beginning in 2004, two month cumulative trip limits went into effect for the commercial CGS fisheries in an effort to sustain those fisheries throughout the year. The cabezon fishery has two month cumulative trip limits that range from 100 to 900 pounds per nearshore fishery permit holder when fishing is permitted.