Mary Callahan, PRESS DEMOCRAT
A trial of innovative crab fishing gear designed to reduce whale entanglements is being hailed as a resounding success that should advance widespread use of the new technology off the California coast sometime soon.
But the reception to the trial and reports of its success have opened a window into profound conflict within the Dungeness crab fleet over the future of the industry, the squeeze of government regulations, and mistrust of the technology and those who promote it.
Battered economically by shortened crab seasons for six years and the total closure of king salmon seasons for two years running — many fish for both — commercial crabbers are at once desperate for more opportunities to fish and eager to reclaim some control over their livelihoods.
They have largely resisted the idea of so-called pop-up gear, citing the expense of converting their equipment, doubts about its reliability and concerns that failures and unintended consequences could actually lead to more whale entanglements.
Nineteen commercial crabbing boats participated in the largest experiment to date, fishing with “ropeless” gear from April 9 through June 30, when most of the fleet was shut out of the crabbing grounds because of concerns about ensnaring marine animals.
Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/california-crab-ropeless-whale/