Offshore Commercial Fishing Blocks - Pre Jan 1, 2025 - R7 - CDFW [ds3148]

Large commercial fishing catch areas, often referred to as -commercial fishing (4-digit) blocks for the state of California. These blocks represent ten generalized catch areas which broadly describe latitudinal catch, from shore out to the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). These catch areas are reflected in reported landings data starting in 1983. These areas overlap with higher resolution 10' x 10' commercial fishing (3-digit) blocks [ds3093] which have been in use since 1933. For more information see: Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. 1935. Fish Bulletin No. 44. The Commercial Fish Catch of California for the Years 1930-1934, Inclusive.

Number sequence of blocks range from 1042 (Northern CA) to 1032 (Southern CA). These blocks were digitized for the California Fisheries Information System, a (since retired) California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) commercial landings database. The original offshore blocks maps were georeferenced to known ocean locations and coastline. The blocks are primarily used to report fishing in offshore waters.

Attributes:

• Block_ID: Contains the 4-digit number used to ID the large offshore commercial fishing block.