December 14, 2020 — Christmas will come early for Dungeness crab lovers.
Two days early.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that the commercial Dungeness crab fishing season will open Dec. 23.
The official opening date of Nov. 15 had been delayed for weeks in the central California zone, from the Sonoma/Mendocino county line south, because of the possibility of migrating whales getting tangled in fishing lines. And it had been delayed in the northern zone, which consists of Humboldt, Mendocino and Del Norte counties, because the sample catch failed to reach the poundage required for testing.
“Recent survey data indicate most whales have started their annual migration out of the fishing grounds,” according to a statement by state officials, who conduct aerial surveys of the Pacific Ocean waters off the coast. “Whale entanglement risk still exists, but it is low. Thus, the opening declaration is accompanied by a notice to the fleet to use best fishing practices and avoid areas where whales may be congregating, including around the canyon edges of Monterey and between the Farallon Islands and Point Reyes.”