In Other Regulatory Action,\u00a0Commission\u00a0Streamlines\u00a0Charitable\u00a0Donation of Sport-Caught Fish\u00a0<\/p>\n
The California Fish and Game Commission (Commission)\u00a0at its Feb. 11-12 meeting\u00a0voted to list\u00a0mountain lion\u00a0populations\u00a0in\u00a0parts of\u00a0southern California and the central coast\u00a0as a\u00a0threatened species under\u00a0the\u00a0California Endangered Species Act (CESA).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a unanimous vote, the\u00a0Commission\u00a0determined\u00a0that listing\u00a0a distinct population segment of mountain\u00a0lions\u00a0in\u00a0southern California\u00a0and the central coast\u00a0is\u00a0warranted\u202fdue to threats such as habitat loss, habitat\u00a0fragmentation\u00a0and isolation of small populations\u00a0as a result of\u00a0expanding human infrastructure, among others.\u00a0The Commission considered\u00a0presentations\u00a0from the\u00a0California Department of Fish and Wildlife\u00a0(CDFW)\u00a0on its species status review and\u00a0from the\u00a0listing petitioner the\u00a0Center for Biological Diversity, as well as\u00a0public comment. The Commission will adopt its findings at a future meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis segment of the mountain lion population is clearly at risk from distinct threats,\u201d said President Eric Sklar. \u201cHabitat loss, habitat fragmentation by roads, freeways and housing, and mortality from vehicle strikes, rodenticides and risks of isolation and inbreeding would lead to the extinction of these mountain lions if we remained on the same trajectory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Following the 1974 ban on hunting mountain lions\u00a0in California, in 1990 voters approved Proposition 117, which\u00a0designated\u00a0mountain lion a specially protected mammal in the state and\u00a0established\u00a0some exemptions for lethal removal of mountain lions to preserve public safety and to protect private property and livestock. The Commission noted that those statutory provisions\u00a0remain\u00a0intact and that this listing is focused specifically on preventing\u00a0the\u00a0potential\u00a0loss\u00a0of the identified population segment through science-based management and conservation action.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Donation of Sport-Caught Fish\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u202fCommission\u202fadopted\u202fregulatory\u202famendments\u202frelated to\u202fprocessing and donating sport-caught fish.\u202fSport fishing license holders who exchange fish for processing\u202fwill be able to\u202fdonate\u00a0their fish\u00a0to charities\u202fdirectly\u00a0through\u00a0fish\u00a0processors\u202frather than\u202fhaving to deliver the fish themselves\u202fas presently allowed.\u202fThe adopted amendments\u00a0streamline\u00a0the\u202fdonation\u00a0of\u202fsport-caught fish to\u202fnonprofit organizations,\u202fCalifornia Native American tribes, public schools within a California unified school district\u00a0and California city or county government programs. The\u00a0changes\u00a0will\u202fprovide\u202fsport fishing\u202flicense\u202fholders the opportunity to support nonprofit, community, school\u00a0and tribal initiatives addressing food insecurity,\u00a0access\u00a0and distribution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Commission\u00a0Elections,\u00a0Committee Assignments\u00a0and\u00a0Meeting Participation\u00a0<\/p>\n
In its first meeting of 2026,\u00a0Commissioner Eric\u00a0Sklar\u00a0was elected Commission president and Commissioner\u00a0Darius Anderson\u00a0vice president.\u00a0The Commission moved to\u00a0retain\u00a0Marine Resources, Wildlife Resources and Tribal Committee\u00a0co-chair\u00a0assignments \u2014\u00a0Sklar and Commissioner Samantha\u00a0Murray will continue to serve on the Marine Resources Committee,\u00a0Anderson\u00a0and\u00a0Commissioner\u00a0Erica\u00a0Zavaleta on the Wildlife Resources Committee\u00a0and Commissioner Jacque Hostler-Carmesin\u00a0on the Tribal Committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sklar,\u00a0Zavaleta\u00a0and\u00a0Murray were in attendance for both days of the\u00a0February\u00a0Commission meeting held in Sacramento; Hostler-Carmesin\u00a0and Anderson\u00a0were\u00a0absent\u00a0both\u00a0meeting\u00a0dates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The complete agenda for the meeting, along with supporting information, is available on the\u202fCommission website<\/a>. Archived\u00a0video of past Commission meetings<\/a>\u00a0is available online. The next meeting of the Commission is scheduled for\u00a0April\u00a015-16, 2026,\u00a0at the California Natural Resources Agency\u00a0building\u00a0in Sacramento. Participants are encouraged to attend in person, with options available for Zoom or phone; for more information visit the\u202fCommission website<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Commission authorized public notice of upcoming potential regulation changes related to:\u00a0<\/p>\n Central Valley\u00a0and Klamath River Basin\u00a0sport fishing regulations<\/a>:\u00a0A discussion hearing is scheduled for\u00a0April 15-16 and an adoption hearing\u00a0for\u00a0May 6\u00a0on proposed amendments related to\u00a0Central Valley and\u00a0Klamath River Basin sport fishing regulations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Media Contacts:\u00a0\u00a0
Krysten Kellum<\/a>, CDFW Communications, (916) 825-7120\u00a0
Jen Benedet<\/a>, CDFW Communications,\u00a0(916) 202-4465\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Other Regulatory Action,\u00a0Commission\u00a0Streamlines\u00a0Charitable\u00a0Donation of Sport-Caught Fish\u00a0 The California Fish and Game Commission (Commission)\u00a0at its Feb. 11-12 meeting\u00a0voted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,15313,85322,9,8,36735,87800],"class_list":["post-186405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-department-of-fish-and-wildlife","tag-california-fish-and-game-commission","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-mountain-lion","tag-sport-caught-fish-donation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}