humpback whale – Enviro Updates

Alana Minkler, PRESS DEMOCRAT

For the seventh year in a row, California officials are limiting commercial Dungeness crab fishing along the coast — including off Sonoma County — to protect humpback whales from becoming entangled in fishing gear.

Charlton H. Bonham, director of the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, announced the new restrictions Thursday after aerial footage showed whales returning early to coastal feeding grounds.

All commercial crab fishing zones south of San Mateo County must now close for the season. Fishing Zone 3 — which stretches from the Mendocino County line to Pigeon Point and includes Bodega Bay and the San Francisco Bay — will remain open for now, but under tighter rules: crabbers must reduce their gear by half and avoid setting traps deeper than 30 fathoms, or about 180 feet.

The state has repeatedly delayed or shortened crab seasons since 2019 to protect migrating whales from becoming ensnared in vertical fishing lines.

Mary Callahan, PRESS DEMOCRAT

The wait for fresh Dungeness crab is now only about two weeks away, following an announcement Friday that the commercial fleet can begin harvesting the tasty crustaceans off the Sonoma Coast and to the south beginning Jan. 5.

The season opener came with a caveat from the state: for the second straight year, boats operating south of the Sonoma-Mendocino County line will be permitted to do so with only half their allotted crab pots to reduce the risk of whale entanglement in a year that’s already seen a rise in marine mammal interactions.

“It’s a bummer,” said Dick Ogg, president of the Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Marketing Association. “We don’t like that we are restricted, but we understand what we need to do to protect the animals. Everybody has to compromise, and we are doing the best we can to still provide the resource to the public with what we were allocated.”

The decision to launch the season, delayed since the Nov. 15 statutory start for the seventh year in a row, comes despite the continuing presence of federally endangered humpback whales off the coast. There have been 14 whale entanglements already in 2024, though only four of them are confirmed to involve California commercial crabbing gear.

The other 10, the latest discovered Dec. 2, involve gear that is still unidentified but which is consistent with crabbing gear, state wildlife officials said.

Environmental Center of Sonoma County

Tag: humpback whale

Sonoma County crabbers face new limits as state restricts season for 7th year — but can keep working

California’s commercial Dungeness crab season to start in January, with restrictions