Saving Seafood

After 2017 Lawsuit, Fewer Whales Entangled As Crab Fishers Face Financial Struggle

February 14, 2020 — The Dungeness crab fishery in California recently shut down months early after a 2017 lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) that required crab fishers to pull their gear out of the water with only 3 weeks notice. A settlement agreement was reached in March 2019, which included an early closure for the 2018-2019 Dungeness crab fishing season. Fishing gear is a serious threat to whales that live in, and migrate through, California waters. The California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group, convened by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), informs regulators on ways in which to minimize entanglement risks and protect whales.

Why have there more whale entanglements recently?

According to a new paper published in the journal Nature Communications climate change could be responsible. According to lead researcher Jarrod Santora, warming events in recent years, combined with recovering whale populations cause whales to come in contact with crab fishing gear more regularly.

Crab season in California occurs between November and mid-July. Warming events in 2014-2016 caused an increase in the marine algae Pseudo-nitzschia which produce the neurotoxin domoic acid (the toxin causes shellfish poisoning in humans). In 2016, high levels of toxins delayed the crab season until March. In addition, the warmer waters changed feeding habits of humpback whales, steering them closer to shore where food was more prevalent. This perfect storm of events led to a sharp spike in observed whale entanglements in 2017. 70% of the whale entanglements reported in 2017 in the United States involved fishing gear.

Read the full story at Forbes

West Coast Crab Managers Delay Primary Dungeness Season Again

December 10, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — State fishery managers confirmed Friday the primary Dungeness crab season will be delayed until after Christmas in Washington, Oregon and California due to spotty meat quality. The delay will last until at least Dec. 31.

Some areas showed improvement in the last month to meet season-opening criteria of either 23 or 25 percent, depending on the area. However, too many areas in between the improved areas were still below the thresholds and managers decided to delay the season from the U.S./Canadian border to Point Arena, Calif., again to let the crab fill out more.

The third round of meat recovery testing will be conducted sometime in mid–December, targeting completion by Dec. 20. The results will determine if the season should open Dec. 31, be further delayed or be split into separate areas with different opening dates.

Industry members in all three states generally agreed with the decision, choosing to wait in the hopes the whole coast can open at once. The delay will also ensure consumers get the best and fullest crab available with the season does open.

But not everyone was happy with the decision. Some fishermen were counting on a big payday in December to cover bills. Other fishermen simply wanted to access full, healthy crab after seasons in which some ports had to wait while domoic acid levels dropped or the crab became fuller.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said last year’s delayed crab season opening still brought in the second-highest ex-vessel value ever, $66.7 million, with 18.7 million pounds landed, just above the 10-year average.

In central California, crabbers are getting anxious to drop their gear. California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton Bonham in late November delayed the season until mid-December after a survey showed 49 humpback and four blue whales in the area. A subsequent survey on Dec. 3 showed four humpback whales and one blue whale present in the same survey area.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

CALIFORNIA: Bay Area crab sellers dismayed over delay of commercial Dungeness season

November 25, 2019 — Marin’s fishmongers reacted with both disappointment and understanding to news that Northern California’s commercial Dungeness crab season has been delayed again.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed Friday, after issuing a preliminary announcement earlier this week, that the opening has been held back until Dec. 15 in an effort to prevent whales from getting tangled in fishing lines.

The season had already been delayed a week from the traditional Nov. 15 start date over concerns about whale entanglements.

Responding to concerns from the commercial crab fleet, state Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham announced late Friday that he intends to further delay the commercial season south of the Mendocino/Sonoma county line.

Read the full story at The Mercury News

CALIFORNIA: Dungeness crab season pushed back over whale concerns

November 22, 2019 — Bay Area crab connoisseurs will have to wait until next month for a taste of Dungeness crab, as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has once again pushed back the start date of the commercial season.

The commercial Dungeness crab fishery south of the Mendocino/Sonoma County line was set to open on Friday, however, it will now open on Dec. 15 in order to minimize the risk of whales getting entangled in ropes connected to crab traps.

The new date comes after an aerial survey on Monday conducted by the CDFW, the Greater Farallones and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, which found concentrations of whales near Point Reyes and Half Moon Bay.

According to CDFW officials, another aerial survey will be conducted ahead of the new start date to again evaluate whale presence in the area and determine if there’s any further risk to marine life.

The commercial Dungeness crab season was originally set to start last Friday but earlier this month the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced the start date would be moved by a week out of fear that whales and sea turtles might be harmed.

Read the full story at SFGate

Dungeness crab season postponed in multiple US states

November 18, 2019 — The U.S. West Coast Dungeness crab season has been postponed in multiple states for a variety of reasons.

Last week in California, the Fish and Wildlife Department decided to postpone the start of the season for fishermen south of the Mendocino/Sonoma County line from 15 to 22 November, citing the threat of sea turtle and whale entanglements, according to The Daily Democrat. Data showed that whales were migrating through the area and the delay was enacted out of an abundance of caution.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

CALIFORNIA: Dungeness fleet thankful for Nov. 22 start

November 8, 2019 — For the last several years California’s Dungeness fleet has been trapped between domoic acid delays, slow meat fill, and accusations of whale entanglements that shortened their season on one end or the other (or both, as was the case last year).

Negotiations last week had the start set for Saturday, Nov. 23. That would mean the fleet could drop pots on the 22nd. But it would also put a serious crunch on the Thanksgiving market, which is the most lucrative time of year for the fleet.

Fleet representatives voiced those concerns to Charlton Bonham, director of California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, and won a one-day reprieve to drop pots on the 21st and start the season officially on Nov. 22 for Bodega Bay and points south.

“Losing a week means losing millions of dollars at a key time for the market,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “But the risks baked into the operation of this season under the settlement, not to mention the political risks and the attention focused on this decision, mean the Working Group and fishery managers had to thread a needle. I think we succeeded this time.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

CALIFORNIA: Start of commercial crab season to be delayed

November 6, 2019 — Another year, another delay to the start of commercial crab season..

This year’s commercial Dungeness crab season will be pushed forward a week to Nov. 22 in an effort to decrease the chances of whales currently off the coast getting ensnarled by fishing lines, according the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

California’s famed Dungeness crab extravaganza has in recent years been a tale of great anticipation, felled hopes, occasional health warnings, season-opener delays and more. Last year, after a three-year spate of seasons put on hold, the commercial season got underway in mid-November, again marked by high hopes for the fisherman shoving off from Half Moon Bay.

Read the full story at The Mercury News

California commercial Dungeness crab season may be delayed

November 4, 2019 — The state may delay California’s commercial Dungeness crab season. The season, which was due to open Nov. 15 on the coast south of the Mendocino-Sonoma County line, could now begin on Nov. 23.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife made the announcement Friday in response to a settlement with an environmental group over whale entanglements in commercial Dungeness crab fishing gear. It will make the final decision on Nov. 4. Recreational season will begin as scheduled on Nov. 2.

Even if the eight-day delay to the commercial season happens, it should not disrupt the Bay Area tradition of cracked Dungeness crab on the Thanksgiving table, said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. However, it would cut into a peak period for the local fishing fleet, which has already lost millions of dollars when three of the last four commercial seasons were delayed because of domoic acid contamination from algal blooms.

In its 2017 lawsuit against the state over gear entanglements, Oakland’s Center for Biological Diversity claimed the state was not doing enough to prevent the deaths of endangered whales, which reached record levels in 2015 and 2016. The organization settled the lawsuit last spring, which required the state to take steps to mitigate risk of entanglement of the marine mammals. That included ending last season’s Dungeness crab season three months early, on April 15.

Read the full story at the San Francisco Chronicle

California Whale Entanglements Halved with Shorter Crab Season

September 4, 2019 — According to data from the National Marine Fisheries Service, the rate of whale entanglements in fishing gear along the U.S. West Coast has fallen by half this year, from about 40 incidents January-August last year to 18 incidents for the same period this year. The environmental advocacy group Center for Biological Diversity connected the improvement to a legal settlement shortening the California crab fishing season.

A lawsuit filed by the center in 2017 ultimately led to a settlement with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association, and the terms included ending the California crab season on April 15 instead of June 30 as scheduled.

The settlement also includes additional measures to mitigate entanglement risks. It promotes the use of ropeless gear and creates a system for assessing risks to whales and triggering area closures when necessary.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

Regular review of California current finds reduced biological productivity

August 8, 2019 — Researchers with a joint venture of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CalCOF) are finding it a slow summer for biological productivity in US west coast waters, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

CalCOF, which expanded from a program organized in 1949 to better understand the collapse of the California sardine industry, cruises the coast quarterly to check fisheries, marine ecosystems and water chemistry. This time the scientists spent 16 days reviewing the Southern California Bight and California Current.

Read the full story at the Undercurrent News