California fishing gear codes

The California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) maintains many important fisheries datasets. Throughout these datasets, CDFW reports fishing gears using a set of unique gear codes. Here, I seek to provide a comprehensive key of California’s fishing gear codes.

The raw and processed versions of the gear code key are provided below:

A simplified version of the processed key is provided here for reference:

Code Gear Category Discontinued
0 Unknown Other 4/1/96
1 Hook & Line Hook & Line
2 Live Bait Other 4/1/96
3 Vertical Hook & Line/Portuguese Longline Longline
4 Mooching (Salmon) Other
5 Set Longline Longline
6 Jig/Bait (Albacore) Other
7 Troll (Albacore) Troll
8 Troll (Groundfish Or Other Fish) Troll
9 Troll (Salmon) Troll
10 Miscellaneous Other 4/1/96
11 Spear Diving, spear, hand 4/1/96
12 Harpoon/Spear Diving, spear, hand
13 Rakes, Forks Other 4/1/96
14 Diving – Abalone Iron Diving, spear, hand 4/1/96
15 Diving /Hooks (Sea Urchins) Diving, spear, hand 4/1/96
16 Cast Net Other net 4/1/96
17 Kelp Barge, Shearing Other 4/1/96
18 Diving Diving, spear, hand
19 Dredge Other 4/1/96
20 Entrapping Trap 4/1/96
21 Fish Trap Trap
22 Prawn Trap Trap
23 Shrimp Net, Chinese Type Other net 4/1/96
24 Fyke Net Other net 4/1/96
25 Traps, Seattle Type (Sablefish) Trap 4/1/96
26 Hoop Net, Crab-Rings Other net 4/1/96
27 Crab Or Lobster Trap Trap
28 Lift Net Other net 4/1/96
30 Horizontal Set Line Longline 4/1/96
31 Vertical Set Line Longline 4/1/96
32 Troll Long Line Longline 4/1/96
33 Pelagic Trawl Trawl 4/1/96
34 Pair Trawl 2 Trawl 4/1/96
35 Dainish/Scottish Seine Other
36 Jig/Bait Other 4/1/96
37 Bucket Trap Trap
38 Barrel Trap Trap
40 Brail/Dip Net Or A-Frame Other net
41 Dip Net, “A” Frame Other net 4/1/96
42 Fish Pump Other 4/1/96
47 Selective Flatfish Trawl, Small Footrope Trawl
48 Trawl – Footrope Less Than 8 Inches In Diameter Trawl
49 Trawl – Footrope Greater Than 8 Inches In Diameter Trawl
50 Trawl Net Trawl 4/1/96
51 Trawl With Roller Gear Trawl 4/1/96
52 Paranzella Other 4/1/96
53 Pair Trawl Trawl
54 Midwater Trawl Trawl
55 Beam Trawl Trawl
56 Bottom Trawl Trawl
57 Balloon Trawl Trawl 4/1/96
58 Single-Rigged Trawl Trawl
59 Double-Rigged Trawl Trawl
60 Entangling Nets Other net 4/1/96
61 Trammel Net Other net 4/1/96
63 Large Mesh Drift Gn Gillnet
64 Small Mesh Drift Gn Gillnet
65 Drift Gill Net Gillnet 2/1/16
66 Set Gill Net Gillnet 2/1/16
67 Large Mesh Set Gn Gillnet
68 Small Mesh Set Gn Gillnet
69 Herring Gn Gillnet
70 Encircling Nets Other net 4/1/96
71 Purse Seine Purse seine
72 Half Ring Other 4/1/96
73 Drum Seine Beach seine
74 Lampara Net Other net
78 Beach Seine Beach seine
80 Net Other net 4/1/96
81 Pelagic Shallow-Set Longline Longline
82 Pelagic Deep-Set Longline Longline
83 Standard Buoy Gear, Deep-Set Other
84 Linked Buoy Gear, Deep-Set Other
90 Hand Take Diving, spear, hand
91 Hand Pump Other
95 Raft/Lines For Herring Roe On Kelp Other
99 Other Other