Fishers rejoice. California will now offer year-round 365-day fishing licenses

California will now issue 365-day fishing licenses, under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Previously, the state issued a calendar-based license that expired on Dec. 31, regardless of when it was issued.

Assembly Bill 817, authored by Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Santa Rosa, also authorizes the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to allow for sport fishing licenses to be displayed electronically on a mobile device.

“Tourism is one of the largest part of the North Coast’s economy, and anglers come from all over to enjoy fishing in our ocean and many lakes, rivers and streams,” Wood said in a statement. “and it’s only common sense to move past the calendar-based license to a model that is used for so many things in your everyday life, like your Costco membership card.”

The new law seeks to reverse a trend that has found California annual resident sport fishing license sales down 55% since 1980, despite the state’s population growth by 60% in that same period, according to Wood’s office.

“While California has a population of more than 39.8 million people, one of the country’s longest coastlines, more than 3,000 lakes and thousands of rivers and streams, it has the lowest fishing participation rate per capita in the country,” Wood’s office said in a statement.

With the new law, California joins 14 other states in transitioning from a calendar-based fishing license system to a 365-day license system, including Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

“Providing anglers access to a fishing license that provides greater value and technology that makes fishing more accessible is long overdue, and what better way to achieve these goals than to boost the value of a license purchased by an angler? It’s kind of a no-brainer,” said Wayne Kotow, executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association of California, a sponsor of AB 817.

Wood said in a statement that it was time for California to abandon its “antiquated” fishing license system.

“Modernizing our sport fishing license to one that is valid a full 365 days from the date of purchase will encourage more Californians to fish and increase fishing license revenue that fund critical state fishing and conservation programs. Making fishing more accessible really supports communities that rely on outdoor recreation and tourism, like my Northern California district,” he said.

This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 12:00 PM.