The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has removed limits on sardine fishing in Southern California, declaring the fish once again safe for human consumption.
The state had initially limited sardine fishing from Point Conception south to the Mexico border after the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and the State Public Health Officer at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) determined that elevated levels of domoic acid in sardines posed a risk to human health. Domoic acid, which is a naturally occurring neurotoxin emitted by marine algae, can accumulate in fish and cause several health issues, even proving fatal in some cases, for humans.
In response, CDFW decided to restrict the commercial and recreational harvest of Pacific sardines from the area solely to live bait uses.
Since then, state health agencies have determined that domoic acid levels have fallen below the federal action level.
“On 13 June 2025, OEHHA, in consultation with the State Public Health Officer at CDPH, determined that the consumption of Pacific sardine from the affected area no longer poses a significant human health risk due to elevated levels of domoic acid,” CDFW Director Charlton Bonham said in a memo lifting the restrictions.
According to CDFW, a large number of marine mammal strandings in March of this year caused a domoic acid bloom in Southern California. The bloom led the state to issue health advisories on bivalve consumption, but conditions have improved as the number of marine mammal strandings declined.
