What mandatory item must anglers possess for White Sturgeon monitoring, even if fishing catch-and-release?
A Sturgeon Fishing Report Card that must be returned regardless of whether any fish were kept.
Effective management of the White Sturgeon population, especially considering its listing status as a candidate under CESA in California, relies heavily on collecting detailed data regarding fishing pressure. To facilitate this, a mandatory requirement for anglers targeting this species is the possession of a Sturgeon Fishing Report Card. This card must be completed and returned to the management agency even if the angler engaged only in catch-and-release fishing and retained zero fish. The spatial and temporal metrics collected from these returned cards are considered critical data points for ongoing population assessment and regulatory refinement.
