California Fish and Game Code 12013 – (a) Any person who illegally takes or possesses in the field …
(a) Any person who illegally takes or possesses in the field more than three times the daily bag limit, or who illegally possesses more than three times the legal possession limit, of fish, reptiles, birds, amphibians, or mammals is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000), nor more than forty thousand dollars ($40,000), or imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(b) If a person is convicted of a second or subsequent violation of subdivision (a), that person shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), nor more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
Terms Used In California Fish and Game Code 12013
- Bag limit: means the maximum limit, in number or amount, of birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, or amphibians that may lawfully be taken by any one person during a specified period of time. See California Fish and Game Code 18
- Bird: means a wild bird or part of a wild bird. See California Fish and Game Code 22
- County: includes city and county. See California Fish and Game Code 32
- District: means fish and game district. See California Fish and Game Code 41
- Donee: The recipient of a gift.
- Donor: The person who makes a gift.
- Fish: means a wild fish, mollusk, crustacean, invertebrate, amphibian, or part, spawn, or ovum of any of those animals. See California Fish and Game Code 45
- Mammal: means a wild or feral mammal or part of a wild or feral animal, but not a wild, feral, or undomesticated burro. See California Fish and Game Code 54
- Person: means any natural person or any partnership, corporation, limited liability company, trust, or other type of association. See California Fish and Game Code 67
- Possession limit: means the maximum, in number or amount, of birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, or amphibians that may be lawfully possessed by one person. See California Fish and Game Code 19
- Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Fish and Game Code 73
(c) Any person who maliciously and intentionally maims, mutilates, or physically tortures any fish, reptile, bird, amphibian, or mammal provided for in this code is guilty of a crime punishable in accordance with subdivision (a). Nothing in this subdivision affects any legal activity pursuant to this code, including, but not limited to, hunting, fishing, trapping, hunting dog training, hunting dog field trials, predation control, and efforts to dispatch a wounded mammal, bird, or fish taken legally.
(d) Nothing in this section prohibits a person from giving, receiving, or possessing the legal possession limit of lawfully taken fish, reptiles, birds, amphibians, or mammals.
(e) Nothing in this section prohibits a person from giving, receiving, or possessing, at the personal abode of the donor or donee, lawfully taken migratory game birds that are not required to be tagged pursuant to the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. § 703 et seq.) or regulations adopted pursuant to that act.
(f) This section does not supersede Section 12005, 12006.6, or 12009.
(g) Moneys equivalent to 50 percent of the revenue from any fine collected pursuant to this section shall be paid to the county in which the offense was committed, pursuant to Section 13003. The board of supervisors shall first use revenues pursuant to this subdivision to reimburse the costs incurred by the district attorney or city attorney in investigating and prosecuting the violation. Any excess revenues may be expended in accordance with Section 13103.
(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 328, Sec. 70. (SB 1330) Effective January 1, 2011.)