The commercial Dungeness crab-fishing season started late for the Bay Area and Central Coast regions. And it’s ending early.
On Friday afternoon, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife ruled that the season must close April 8 to protect humpback whales. Two whales have recently become entangled in crab-fishing gear, one off the San Mateo County coast and one in Monterey Bay.
Until then, the state is asking all fishermen and mariners to keep an eye out for entangled whales and report them to the U.S. Coast Guard so that a “disentanglement response team” can be sent out to remove the gear.
“The past few seasons have been difficult for fishing families, communities and businesses, but it is imperative that we strike the right balance between protecting humpback whales and providing fishing opportunity,” Charlton H. Bonham, CDFW director, said in a statement about his decision.
The ruling applies to the coastal region from the Sonoma-Mendocino county border south to the Mexican border (what the state considers Zones 3, 4, 5 and 6.) It does not affect the commercial crabbers in the far northern part of the state — Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties (Zones 1, 2). Nor does it affect recreational crabbing.
“The fleet has done an impressive job helping CDFW manage risk of entanglement in the commercial fishery, including starting to remove fishing gear when the entanglements were first reported,” Bonham said. “This partnership helps ensure we protect future opportunities to fish and the incredible biodiversity of our ocean.”
The nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity applauded the action and recommended that even stronger steps be taken going forward.
“We’re glad to see this closure protect whales from crab gear off California’s coast, but recent entanglements show that California has to do more to protect these animals,” said Catherine Kilduff, an attorney with the center’s oceans program, upon hearing of Friday’s decision. “Humpback whales migrate hundreds of miles to Monterey Bay, and state officials should protect every single one while they’re feeding there. It’s time to get serious about moving to ropeless gear that keeps whales safe off the California coast.”
The Bay Area’s commercial Dungeness season traditionally starts Nov. 15, and the Fish and Game Code 8276 allows the season to remain open until June 30 south of the Sonoma/Mendocino line. However, state officials said, a majority of the crabs caught in any given season occur between the opening date and March. Most Dungeness crabbing in this region winds down by the end of April.
That same statute allows the far-north fishery to remain open until July 15. But that also may be subject to closure by the director if the risk of entanglement becomes elevated there.
Since 2015, there have been delays in all but one commercial Dungeness season in the Bay Area. A toxin, domoic acid, that could sicken anyone who eats the tainted crab destroyed Northern California’s 2015-2016 commercial season and created delays in other years.
In 2018, recreational crabbers had to postpone their fishing, but the commercial season began without a hitch. In 2019 and 2020 and 2021, the fishing line danger to whales resulted in a crabbing delay of several weeks. The 2020 crabbing season was officially set to begin Dec. 23, but price negotiations between crab fleets and seafood processors delayed the start until early 2021.
Source: www.mercurynews.com