“We appreciate members of the public providing tips to CDFW.  These two cases show that tips to CDFW are not in vain and wildlife officers do investigate.  CDFW officers work to protect our wildlife, natural resources and environment, which we are grateful for.”

– CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

SACRAMENTO – On April 26, 2024, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced that its officers recently responded to several tips received through the Californians Turn in Poachers and Polluters (CalTIP) site.

In the first case a CDFW officer contacted a man in possession of 49 rainbow trout in a section of Piru Creek in Los Angeles County that was catch and release only. Piru Creek is one of two streams in the Angeles National Forest managed for wild trout.

In another incident, San Diego-based wildlife officers observed two men hastily loading a boat onto a trailer at Dana Landing in Mission Bay. The two wildlife officers initiated a traffic stop on the men’s SUV and upon conducting an inspection, discovered 86 lobsters in their possession (80 were undersized). The bag limit is seven per day.

Wildlife officers took appropriate enforcement actions and filed both cases to hold the suspects accountable in court.

Size and bag limits are in place to allow recreational harvest and consumption of fish and game species in low enough numbers to ensure their populations are self-sustainable. Left unchecked, poaching activities, like being over the allowable limit and undersized takes (especially before they have a chance to reproduce), threaten those populations and the lawful authority to fish or hunt for them.