About this pier
Berkeley Municipal Pier once stretched more than three thousand feet into San Francisco Bay from the Berkeley Marina near César Chávez Park, with long views toward San Francisco and the Golden Gate. It has been fully closed to the public since July 2015, when a structural survey found concrete spalling and badly corroded reinforcing steel in the deck and pilings — a complete shutdown that has now lasted more than a decade, not an intermittent or partial closure. As of 2026, the City of Berkeley and WETA (the Bay Area ferry authority) are advancing environmental review for tearing down and replacing the old pier with a new roughly 1,080-foot structure that would combine public fishing and walking access with a ferry terminal. A draft environmental impact report was published in February 2026, so planning is moving forward, but there is no reopened pier yet and no firm completion date. Berkeley sits in Alameda County; surrounding bay waters fall under California's San Francisco groundfish management area.
What you can catch
When the pier was open, anglers historically found perch, jacksmelt, sturgeon, and striped bass over the bay's muddy bottom, along with occasional halibut in warmer months. Its length into open bay water made it one of the East Bay's best-known sturgeon and striped-bass shore spots. Those notes are historical — you cannot fish this pier while it remains closed.
License and regulations
Berkeley Municipal Pier is not currently open for fishing, and it does not appear on CDFW's Alameda County public pier list (which includes structures such as Dumbarton Pier, San Antonio Pier, and Estuary Park Pier, among others). Do not assume a license exemption applies here while the pier is closed and unlisted. If and when a replacement pier opens and is listed as a public pier, the usual rules would apply: no sport license required on the public pier structure itself, but size limits, bag limits, seasons, and sturgeon handling rules still apply, along with the two-rod public-pier gear limit (CCR Title 14, Section 28.65(b)). Confirm any future reopen status on CDFW's list and city/WETA project notices before planning a trip around this spot.
Tips for fishing here
There is no legal public fishing access on this pier today. For East Bay shore fishing, use other currently open, CDFW-listed public piers in Alameda County or elsewhere around the bay. When the historic pier was open, sturgeon and striped bass anglers often favored cut bait on moving tides, and perch responded to lighter shrimp or bloodworm rigs near the pilings — useful context only after a reopening is officially announced.
Before you go
Do not plan a fishing trip to Berkeley Municipal Pier expecting access: it has been closed since 2015. Follow City of Berkeley and WETA updates on the replacement project if you want to know when a new pier might open. Until then, treat this page as background on a landmark East Bay pier and pick another active public pier for casting.