Cal. FGC § 8370

This is the official text of Cal. FGC § 8370, part of California’s Fish and Game Code — regulates hunting, fishing, and wildlife conservation.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

(a) Any striped bass, salmon, or sturgeon, if alive, that is taken in any type of net in any district shall be immediately liberated from the net by the fishermen and immediately returned to the water without further harm.

(b) Any striped bass, salmon, or sturgeon that is taken in any type of nets in any district shall be removed from the net by the fisherman and immediately returned to the water, regardless of the condition of the fish.

(c) The holder of a commercial fishing license shall not have in his or her possession, except when releasing fish from the net, any striped bass, salmon, or sturgeon, whether dead or alive, at any time when conducting netting operations or when going to or from those operations.

(d) Fish returned to the water in accordance with this section is not deterioration, waste, or spoilage of fish for purposes of Section 7704.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in California?

Find a California lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.