Feds ease fishing restrictions on quillback rockfish as numbers rebound

MENDOCINO CO., 9/23/25 – After a nearly two-year prohibition, fishermen can start catching quillback rockfish off the California coast, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries said.  

The decision last week follows the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s relaxing of rockfish regulations in August after data showed quillback populations rebounding.