Question: I fish in Mexico and have a question regarding bringing them back to the U.S. I saw a statement on Facebook where the poster said we cannot bring cowcod or fillets into U.S. waters even if we have a signed declaration to present with the fish. Despite the fact cowcod are not legal to possess in California, they are legal to catch in Mexico.

I would like to know if this is true as many things posted on the Internet are not always correct. If it is correct, is this also true for the other three protected rockfish - canary, yelloweye and bronzespotted rockfish? If I take a legal Mexican limit of five bocaccio, would I be limited to bringing only three back into California? Also, I hunt in Mexico where it is legal to take 60 doves. At the border, could I declare the 60 doves when I cross the border or would I only be able to have the California limit of 10 doves? What are the laws? Since I am hunting and fishing in another country and abiding by their laws, do I have to also abide by California laws when I import game from another country?

Answer: It is unlawful to import or possess birds, mammals, fish, reptile or amphibian taken from outside of this state unless the following requirements are met (as per Fish and Game Code, Section 2353):

• The animals were legally taken and legally possessed outside of this state.
• California and federal codes and regulations do not expressly prohibit their possession in this state.
• A declaration is submitted to the department or a designated state or federal agency at or immediately before the time of entry, in the form and manner prescribed by the department.

Therefore, even if the fish were legally taken in Mexico, they are prohibited here in California, and they cannot be brought back here. This means while cowcod, canary, yelloweye and bronzespotted rockfish may be legally caught and possessed in Mexico, they cannot be brought back to California. Filleting is also not allowed in Mexico, so no fish taken in Mexico can be brought back to California in a filleted condition.

There is an exception for migratory gamebirds. Migratory gamebirds, such as doves, taken in Mexico fall under the federal migratory bird regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 50. Federal regulations allow importation of doves from Mexico "not to exceed the maximum number permitted by Mexican authorities to be taken in any one day: Provided, that if the importer has his Mexican hunting permit date-stamped by appropriate Mexican wildlife authorities on the first day he hunts in Mexico, he may import the applicable Mexican possession limit corresponding to the number of days actually hunted during that particular trip."(see CFR Section 20.61.)

Declaration for entry forms can be found online at www.dfg.ca.gov/enforcement/ and on pg. 100 of the current Ocean Sport Fishing regulations booklet.