Grunion a "grunion run". A fishing license is required for persons 16 years and older to catch grunion, and they may be taken by sport fishermen using their hands only. No appliances of any kind may be used to catch grunion, and no holes may be dug in the beach to entrap them. Grunion may be taken on specified dates between March and the end of August, but not during the months of April and May. There is no limit, but fishermen may take only what they can use, as under Californian law it is unlawful to waste fish. With these
Grunion regulations, the resource seems to be maintaining itself at a fairly constant level. The coastal Indians in California harvested grunion during spawning runs. Archeologists have found fossil grunion otoliths (tiny, bonelike particles or stony platelike structures in the internal ear of lower vertebrates) at various Indian campsites. Grunion were mentioned by Spanish explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in his ship's log dated around 1542. Scientists first identified grunion in San Francisco Bay in 1860. Frank Zappa wrote a song named "Grunion Run" (originally released as a single by The Hollywood Persuaders), as has Jonathan Richman ("Grunion Run" on his album "I,