The white sturgeon sport fishing season opens Oct. 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, for catch-and-release fishing in the ocean, San Francisco Bay, Delta and lower Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. … Though recent results from white sturgeon monitoring surveys by CDFW suggest the white sturgeon population has continued to decline, science indicates that non-lethal take via a catch-and-release fishery will not harm the long-term viability of the white sturgeon population. Factors such as harmful algal blooms, poaching, poor river and Delta conditions and historical overharvest have been shown to have significant negative impacts on the population.