“CDFW officers patrol day and night in an effort to protect our fish and wildlife, our environment and our safety.  Their jobs can be highly dangerous and we thank them for their service to our State.”

– CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

ORANGE COUNTY – On October 24, 2025, at around 1:00 a.m., a California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) officer patrolling Dana Point Harbor in Orange County spotted a lone light glowing at the end of the jetty. The officer spotted a subject leaving the jetty carrying a suspicious black bag. The subject casually admitted to a group of nearby divers that he had a “trash bag full of lobster.” The divers took a peek, laughed and suggested he might want to get those to a car before a wildlife officer showed up.

Before the subject got to his car, the CDFW officer contacted him. The subject’s bag contained six lobsters, five of which were undersized.  The subject claimed a buddy in the water was handing them off, so the officer waited for the second subject.

The second diver emerged wearing a game bag stuffed with more than twice the legal lobster limit — 18 lobsters. The diver admitted he was taking more than the legal limit and swapping out smaller lobsters for bigger ones, an illegal practice known as “high grading”.

The two subjects were found with a total of 24 lobsters, 19 undersized. Both were cited, and every undersized lobster was safely returned to the ocean.

CDDFW’s remember:

-Measure immediately

-Limit is seven

-High-grading is illegal