I am assuming that you think your fish are bluegill because you would like others on the message board to believe they are bluegill if in fact you had inadvertently acquired tilapia illegally?
Based on the information in this thread, had your fish been bluegill or morphologically similar looking sunfish, they more than likely all would have died due to swings / fluctuation of water parameters.
It is very hard to say what is legal or illegal in California due to regulations that apply only to certain regions, or specific strains / species of fish etc.
I would use information from that link to get in touch with your regional DFG office and see how they interpret the law as far as tilapia culture goes. They should be able to tell you what laws apply to you in your region. Looking at a copy of the laws probably won't help you because the interpretation of those laws is what counts, and for that you will have to speak with the department of fish and game directly.
Gotta love bureaucracy and government agencies that have to regulate everything! If these people had a clue on how hard it is to run your own business! I deal with it every year with my fish!
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
