Saving Seafood

California Commercial Dungeness Crab Update

December 15, 2020 — The following was released by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:

Proving that the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program is successfully striking a balance between the needs of the commercial Dungeness crab fleet and protection of marine life, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) will open the commercial season statewide on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020, allowing the fleet a chance to get Dungeness crab on California tables before the holiday season ends.

This statewide opener ends delays in place due to meat quality in the northern management area (NMA) and the potential for whale entanglement in the central management area (CMA). It also gives the fleet ample time for planning and gear preparation and promotes an orderly start to the fishery. For the NMA Fishing Zones 1 and 2, the pre-soak period will begin Sunday, Dec. 20 at 8:01 a.m. and for the CMA, Fishing Zones 3, 4, 5 and 6, the pre-soak period will begin Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 6:01 a.m.

Available data indicates some whales remain in the fishing grounds but risk is declining and CDFW supports a balanced approach to managing risk and providing opportunity for the commercial fishery that is grounded in expert science.

Whale entanglement risk still exists, but it is low. Thus, the opening declaration is accompanied by an 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. Crabbers are encouraged to review the Best Practices Guide and remember to minimize knots and line scope when fishing.

Recent survey data indicate most whales have started their annual migration out of the fishing grounds. Based on these data, CDFW made a preliminary recommendation to open the fishery statewide on Wednesday, Dec. 16. The Whale Entanglement Working Group evaluated all available data and did not provide a consensus recommendation to open or delay. After the Working Group meeting, the majority of ports requested further delay of the opener.

Read the full release here

CALIFORNIA: Crab for Christmas: Dungeness season starts Dec. 23

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.”

Read the full story at The Daily Democrat

CALIFORNIA: Commercial Dungeness Crab Update

November 25, 2020 — The following was released by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:

The commercial Dungeness crab season in the central management area, Point Arena to the Mexico border, will continue to be delayed due to the presence of whales within fishing grounds and the potential for entanglement. The commercial Dungeness crab season in the northern management area was scheduled to open Sunday, Dec. 1, but was delayed until at least Wednesday, Dec. 16 due to low meat quality. Meat quality testing and delays are a long-standing tri-state industry supported component of the season opener to ensure high quality crab at the start of the fisheries in northern California, Oregon and Washington. In early December, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director will re-assess entanglement risk in the central management area and evaluate risk in the northern management area to inform the season opener for both areas.

CDFW in partnership with researchers, federal agencies and the fishing industry has conducted surveys from the Oregon state line to the Channel Islands to observe marine life concentrations. CDFW has conducted five aerial surveys since late October and more than 10 vessel-based surveys have been conducted by researchers and the fishing industry. Additional sources of data include observations from a network of observers spread across three national marine sanctuaries.

Based on those data sources, “CDFW, after consulting with the Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group, is enacting a delay in the central management area,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “Available data indicates the whales still remain in the fishing grounds. This risk assessment focused on the central management area because the northern management area was already delayed due to low meat quality. CDFW staff, collaborators and partners have scheduled additional surveys in the next few weeks that, weather permitting, are anticipated to provide the data necessary to reassess whale presence. Our hope is both quality testing and additional marine life survey data will support a unified statewide opener on Dec. 16, just in time to have crab for the holidays and New Year.”

CDFW is planning additional aerial surveys for the first week of December to inform a risk assessment in advance of Dec. 16. When the data indicates the whales have migrated out of the fishing grounds, CDFW stands ready to open the commercial season.

For more information related to the risk assessment process or this delay, please visit CDFW’s Whale Safe Fisheries page.

For more information on Dungeness crab, please visit wildlife.ca.gov/crab.

Risk of whale entanglements means a delay for crab season.

November 19, 2020 — Thanksgiving dinner will not include fresh-caught Dungeness crab this year, as state officials delayed the opening of commercial fishing from Nov. 15 to Dec. 1.

Eating Dungeness crab on Thanksgiving, instead of or alongside turkey, is a tradition that goes back decades in the Monterey and San Francisco bay areas. But as concern grew over whales getting entangled in the lines that get dropped to the ocean floor with crab traps, new conservation rules came into play.

In early November, aerial surveys and whale watching boats spotted dozens of humpbacks pausing to forage off the coast as part of a migration that eventually takes them to breeding grounds in Mexican waters. Those observations triggered action by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).

“While no one wants to delay the season, CDFW and the Working Group feel a delay is necessary to reduce the risk of entanglement,” CDFW Director Charlton Bonham said in a statement, referring to the California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group, which includes trade representatives, environmentalists and government officials. “The fleet has gone to great lengths to be more nimble in order to protect whales and turtles, and the results are promising.”

Read the full story at Monterey County Now

CALIFORNIA: Thanksgiving crab won’t be on the menu this year — Monterey Bay Area crabbers face delayed season

November 6, 2020 — Commercial crabbers in the Monterey Bay area and beyond will have to wait until December to set their pots — the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has delayed the opening of Dungeness crab season from Nov. 15, to Dec. 1, citing a risk of whale entanglements occurring.

Humpbacks are still actively feeding in the Monterey Bay, and north into Santa Cruz waters, according to Ryan Bartling, a senior environmental scientist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Region. The agency has been conducting aerial and ship surveys from the Humboldt coast, to the California-Mexico border.

“There are a large number of humpback whales still foraging off our coast,” Bartling said. “If we were to allow the fishery to proceed as planned, there’s conceivably a great risk of entanglement.”

Even still, there are potentials for further delays in the season. In mid-November, the agency will reassess whale entanglement risk and evaluate if the now scheduled Dec. 1 opening date is feasible.

Read the full story at the Santa Cruz Sentinel

Safeguards for whales delay California’s commercial crab season for second straight year

November 5, 2020 — Whales feeding in abundance off the California coast have delayed the commercial Dungeness crab season for the second consecutive year, the result of new rules intended to protect whales and other marine wildlife from entanglements in fishing gear — and any additional restrictions that arise in such cases.

Chuck Bonham, director of the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, on Wednesday postponed the season opener until at least Dec. 1, pending further aerial surveys and signs that whales had begun migrating from fishing grounds.

The commercial crab season traditionally starts Nov. 15 in waters south of the Sonoma-Mendocino county line, early enough to put fresh, succulent crab on the Thanksgiving menu.

The holiday season is when most California crabbers earn the bulk of their income for the year, harvesting $51.8 million worth of Dungeness in 2019 in one of the state’s most consistently lucrative fisheries. Landings in Bodega Bay reached $5.6 million in 2019, according to state data.

Read the full story at The Press Democrat

CALIFORNIA: CDFW Works with Commercial Dungeness Crab Industry and Environmental Community to Implement New Regulations to Protect Whales from Entanglement

November 5, 2020 — The following was released by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:

The commercial Dungeness crab season in the central management area, which was scheduled to open Sunday, Nov. 15, will be delayed due to the presence of whales within fishing grounds and the potential for entanglement. In mid-November, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director will re-assess entanglement risk in the central management area and evaluate risk in the northern management area, which is scheduled to open Tuesday, Dec. 1.

Following increased numbers of large whale entanglements in 2015 and 2016, CDFW worked with the Dungeness crab fleet and partner organizations to develop the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP). After substantial review and input from industry and the environmental community, the RAMP regulations became effective on Nov. 1, 2020. The risk assessment conducted by CDFW this week, in consultation with the Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group, is the first assessment conducted under the new RAMP regulations.

“While no one wants to delay the season, CDFW and the Working Group feel a delay is necessary to reduce the risk of entanglement,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “The fleet has gone to great lengths to be more nimble in order to protect whales and turtles, and the results are promising. This year for the first time in a long time it looks like we don’t have to worry about domoic acid, which is good news.”

In collaboration with Working Group advisors, agencies and other partners, CDFW is committed to collecting real time data regarding presence of Humpback and Blue whales, and Pacific leatherback sea turtles in Dungeness crab fishing grounds. Combined with an improved and consistent process for information sharing and decision making with the Working Group, CDFW is able to provide more certainty to the fleet as to the timing of potential delays and openings. When the whales migrate out of the fishing grounds in coming weeks, CDFW stands ready to open the commercial season.

Read the full release here

Monterey Bay: Squid are back in abundance

May 4, 2020 — Squid boats dotting the Central California coastline have been joined by salmon fishermen and women as both seasons are now underway. While the salmon fishery is just getting started up, the squid fishery is already showing signs of a promising season.

“I can tell you that the squid seems to be going really well,” said Moss Landing Harbormaster Tommy Razzeca, “we have a bunch of vessels working out of the harbor.”

The squid fishery is among the most lucrative and productive in the state, frequently valued in the double-digit millions. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, landings from California market squid (Doryteuthis opalescens) were over 34,000 short tons in the 2018-2019 season, generating more than $33 million in revenue.

But according to Diane Pleschner-Steele, the executive director of the California Wetfish Producers Association, these charming and elusive animals can be difficult to pin down. The statement has proven true in the last couple of years.

Read the full story at the Santa Cruz Sentinel

California closes Dungeness crab fishery early

April 24, 2020 — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has announced an early closure to the Dungeness crab fishery south of the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to protect whales and sea turtles from being entangled in fishing gear.

According to the official declaration, the decision co close the fishery on 15 May was made to protect humpback whales, whose migratory path is through the central management area of the fishery.

Read the full story at Seafood Source