Permit Reef

Resources, by route step

The reading list we wish someone had handed us.

Grouped by where you are in the route, in the same order as the Permit Tracker, so you can read one step at a time instead of everything at once. Each item says who published it, the date the source itself gives, and the last time we checked the link.

Every link goes to someone else's page. We do not endorse any of them, and none of them endorse us. Flag anything out of date with the Feedback button.

This shelf is a reading list compiled by Permit Reef from published agency, university, and nonprofit pages. Covers California shellfish and seaweed only. Every outside link on this page was last checked automatically on Sep 18, 2026, and it is re-checked weekly. The agency's own published page and notice remain the legal record. Grouping, ordering, and the plain-language notes under each item are written by Permit Reef.

See the same steps on the Permit TrackerOne-page route summary

5

Route steps

35

Published items

12

Mirrored PDFs

01

Step 1 · Siting & lease

Who may hold water, and on what terms.

Start here. These are the pages that say who grants the right to use a piece of water or tideland in California, and what the application asks for.

02

Step 2 · Environmental review

The analysis that has to exist before a decision can be made.

The environmental documents that other projects already produced. Reading one tells you what the reviewing agency will expect from yours.

03

Step 3 · Water & federal

Water quality, navigation, and protected species.

Once a site and an analysis exist, the federal reviews and the water quality reviews decide what may be built and where.

04

Step 4 · Food safety & product

What has to be true before anyone eats it.

Growing is only half of it. These are the rules and testing guides that decide whether your harvest can be sold for people to eat.

05

Step 5 · Operate & keep current

The part that never ends.

Seed, gear, husbandry, and the people who can answer a question on a Tuesday. Useful once the paperwork is behind you.

06

Alongside the route · Money and markets

Where the funding and the market numbers live.

Not a step in the route, and placed after it on purpose. These programs and datasets matter whenever you are writing a budget or a grant.

07

Alongside the route · Other route maps and background

Other people's maps, and the reports worth reading once.

Permit Reef is not the only effort to make this navigable. These are the other walkthroughs and the background reports, listed so you can compare them against what you read here.

Source documents we built on

Local mirrors · ready to download

The actual paper trail.

Every cost number, process diagram, and federal precedent on this site traces back to a public document. Here are the originals — mirrored so they keep working even if the source agency reorganizes its website.

Mirrors are for reading convenience. The federal & state agencies named above remain the authoritative source — when in doubt, check theirs.

Missing something?

Send us the link.

This list grows with the community. If you have found a guide, dataset, or extension contact that saved you weeks, send it with the Feedback button and we will read it before the next update.