October 15, 2025 — Gavin Newsom, the governor of the U.S. state of California, has signed a bill into law that ends the use of gillnets in state waters.
Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1056 into law on 13 October, phasing out the use of drift gillnets in California’s waters. The bill – sponsored by NGOs Oceana and the Resource Renewal Institute – limits the ability of remaining fishers with gillnet permits to transfer them, phasing out the fishery as they retire.
January 31, 2024 — There’s a newly restored wetland at the edge of Prairie Creek, a stream that crosses ancestral Yurok land in Northern California’s Redwood National Park. The site is humble at first glance: an expanse of mud along the streamside, where starts of native vegetation dot the ground, and quiet pools branch off from the main flow of the creek. But this carefully rebuilt backwater holds an array of rare young fish. On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom stood by as researchers pulled juvenile chinook and coho salmon along with steelhead and cutthroat trout from the water and displayed them in a clear plastic box.
Newsom and his entourage paid a visit to this area to see salmon restoration in action – and to announce a sweeping new plan intended to protect California’s iconic fish. The state’s once-abundant salmon have been devastated by sediment pollution from logging, overfishing and massive habitat loss due to decades of dam construction. As summer temperatures soar and snowpack dwindles due to human-caused climate change, there’s increasingly less of the cold water the remaining salmon need to survive.
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July 8, 2021 — Conservationists are applauding the inclusion of $1.3 million in the new state budget that is designed to protect sea turtles and marine mammals from being killed by swordfish fishing gear.
The funds will be used in a voluntary buyback program to get California’s swordfish fleet to switch from drift gill nets — nylon nets up to a mile long that can catch and kill dolphins, sea lions and whales as well as the occasional endangered leatherback sea turtle — to what’s called deep-set buoy gear, which is designed to prevent entanglements. But some say the move will put fishermen out of business and limit Californians’ access to a local fish in good supply.
Gov. Gavin Newsom approved the funding last week as part of the $262.6 billion state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
July 6, 2021 — A budget deal reached between state lawmakers and California Governor Gavin Newsom includes funding that will complete the state’s buyout of drift gillnets from commercial fishing operators who catch swordfish.
The USD 1.3 million (EUR 1.1 million) will help fishermen purchase safer gear that doesn’t threaten other marine wildlife.
May 27, 2021 — The federal government plans to open more than 250,000 acres off the California coast to wind development, the Biden administration announced Tuesday, as part of a major effort to ramp up the nation’s renewable energy and cut its climate-warming emissions.
Under the plan, the administration would allow wind power projects to be built in federal waters off the coast of Central California northwest of Morro Bay, as well as at a second location west of Humboldt Bay. Officials estimate that the two areas combined could generate 4,600 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 1.6 million homes.
The government’s plans represent a “breakthrough,” said Gina McCarthy, President Biden’s senior climate change advisor. “It’s an announcement that will set the stage for the long-term development of clean energy and the growth of a brand-new made-in-America industry.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the plans, noting that California had spent years trying to advance offshore wind power under the Trump administration, with no success. The state, he said, will accelerate its own environmental review process in order to speed up the projects, which he estimated would be built at least 20 miles offshore with enough space for roughly 380 wind turbines.
Although there has been no shortage of interest from wind farm developers in sites along California’s coast — particularly off the Central Coast and Humboldt Bay — efforts have been stymied by regulatory obstacles, engineering challenges created by the Pacific Ocean floor’s steep drop-off, and concerns about the impact the infrastructure could have on migratory birds, marine life and fisheries.
May 18, 2021 — Proposed budget increases for California will help shark and swordfish gillnet fishermen transition out of the fishery.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday introduced his California Comeback Plan, which includes significant fiscal resources aimed to protect California’s diverse fish, wildlife and plant resources and the habitats on which they depend, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a press release. The proposed budget increases show the Newsom administration’s investment in California’s biodiversity both for its intrinsic, ecological value as well as for future generations of hunters, hikers, fishermen, birders and outdoor enthusiasts.
November 18, 2020 — Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, today introduced the Oceans-Based Climate Solutions Act of 2020.
We could start with the irony of a representative from Arizona introducing an oceans climate bill, hailing not only from a landlocked state, but one most known for its lack of water.
But let’s instead lead with the fact that the blueprint for this bill was introduced and failed to make it out of committee in California — one of the nation’s most progressive states. Now Gov. Gavin Newsom has made an end run around the legislative process by creating an executive order to effect the changes in the bill that could not pass with votes.
The federal bill is more than a mixed bag. Reading its 324 pages felt like swinging at a piñata packed with a mix of treats and lit fireworks.
October 21, 2020 — Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, today introduced the Oceans-Based Climate Solutions Act of 2020.
We could start with the irony of a representative from Arizona introducing an oceans climate bill, hailing not only from a landlocked state, but one most known for its lack of water.
But let’s instead lead with the fact that the blueprint for this bill was introduced and failed to make it out of committee in California — one of the nation’s most progressive states. Now Gov. Gavin Newsom has made an end run around the legislative process by creating an executive order to effect the changes in the bill that could not pass with votes.
The federal bill is more than a mixed bag. Reading its 324 pages felt like swinging at a piñata packed with a mix of treats and lit fireworks.
July 14, 2020 — Seafood suppliers, distributors, and wholesalers – already reeling from the plunge in foodservice business due to COVID-19 – face more grim news as California orders the closure of restaurants for indoor dining.
On 13 July, California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the closure of bars, indoor restaurants, movie theaters, and many other recently reopened businesses across California, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The state’s COVID-19 cases have surged, with more than 8,000 new cases daily and 334,000 total reported cases as of 13 July.
April 30, 2020 — The coronavirus lockdown has reduced fisherman Pete Grillo’s operation to a folding table and Igloo coolers under a blue canopy at the foot of a rickety wood pier along Driscoll’s Wharf.
Even as restaurant suppliers have all but disappeared as customers, the purveyor of yellowfin tuna on Wednesday sold out of yellowfin that hit the dock Friday. “This is the last of 30,000 pounds,” said seller Ben Stephens, 24.
California isn’t immune to pork, beef and chicken supply issues, but it does have its own food ecosystem, which includes an abundance of fish and the availability of regional beef and chicken, experts say. That could keep the state’s appetite for protein satiated in the weeks to come.
California is “the breadbasket of the world,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.