Posted by Rolf on October 10, 2002 at 20:49:24:
I'm interested in trying lobster hunting this year. I got a copy of the Fish & Game rulebook, which lists a number of marine preserves and so on throughout the state, but then seems to imply that taking lobster is okay in most of them. It then says to consult with a local Fish & Game office to be sure.
I called F&G in Los Alamitos and, after leaving a couple of messages, got a call back from a warden today. He was a real nice guy who confessed that he is based in Northern California (they rotate phone messages to whatever warden is "on duty" statewide) and he wasn't familiar with the names of some of the state parks and dive spots I mentioned. He said he thought it would be okay to take lobster anywhere in Malibu, Palos Verdes or the Newport-Laguna coast, based on his (fairly quick) reading of the rulebook.
I'm thinking of calling Los Alamitos back and asking if I can get ahold of a locally based warden. But in the meantime, does anyone have a take on this? Are there any well-known no-take zones in the above regions that I should be careful about? I was considering Crystal Cove State Park and/or Little Corona. I'm aware that both are within marine preserves, but it sort of looks from reading the rules that lobster-hunting is okay.