Saving Seafood

Are sea otters taking a bite out of California’s Dungeness crab season?

December 15, 2020 — Dungeness crabs are a holiday tradition every year on tables across Northern California. But the prized crustaceans also are a prime delicacy for other local residents — sea otters that live along the Central Coast.

Scientists are studying whether to relocate sea otters north into San Francisco Bay to help expand their population back to its historic range. But fishermen have been wary, concerned that the otters could reduce the number of Dungeness crabs, a $51 million industry, and one of California’s largest commercial fisheries.

Now a new study suggests the two beloved ocean luminaries may be able to co-exist. In a paper published Thursday, researchers from Duke University, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the U.S. Geological Survey found that as the number of sea otters has grown off central California in recent decades, the catch of Dungeness crabs by fishermen in Half Moon Bay, Monterey and Morro Bay actually also has gone up, not down.

The study could increase the chances that otters will be reintroduced into San Francisco Bay nearly 200 years after they were last seen there, or to other places north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Read the full story at The Monterey Herald

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 Dungeness season pushed back to Dec. 16

November 30, 2020 — Citing a continuing presence of whales on the central California crab fishing grounds, the Dungeness season opener has been pushed back by an additional two weeks to Dec. 16, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said this week.

Humpback whales were feeding in a familiar nearshore pattern similar to fall 2019 when that season was delayed, and a similar call was made by state officials to delay the crab season start to Dec. 1, pending findings from aerial surveys. The decision came back late Tuesday to hold off again until at least Dec. 16 to prevent risk of crab gear entangling whales.

Based on aerial and vessel surveys and observer reports along the coast, the state agency “after consulting with the Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group, is enacting a delay in the central management area,” said state fish and wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham in announcing the decision. “Available data indicates the whales still remain in the fishing grounds.”

The California Coast Crab Association complained that the recreational crab fishery was “inexplicably” allowed to start on time in early November even as state officials contended too many whales were around for commercial gear to be set.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

CALIFORNIA: Fishermen in Monterey Bay hit with new wave of Dungeness crab season delays

November 25, 2020 — You couldn’t blame crab fishermen Tim and Dan Obert for feeling like they’re passing through the perfect storm.

First there was the pandemic, which shut down restaurants and, in turn, much of the demand for Dungeness crab. Then a new regulation took effect on Nov. 1 that heavily restricts the Dungeness fishery’s operations when whales and sea turtles are around. Then the state delayed the opening of the Dungeness crab season until after Thanksgiving.

“If you take all three of those things, you will destroy this fishery,” said Tim Obert, 35, of Scotts Valley. “There will be no crabbers left.”

Dungeness crab in Northern California is an integral and celebrated part of the culture of coastal communities stretching from Monterey to Crescent City. Wharf restaurants sling crab legs to thousands of tourists in the spring and summer, while bustling seafood markets feed countless locals during the holiday season.

Read the full story at The Mercury News

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: Half Moon Bay fishermen frustrated over crab season delay

November 17, 2020 — Fishermen in the Half Moon Bay area are frustrated and anxious to start Dungeness crab fishing season after California postponed the start from Nov. 15 to Dec. 1 due to 50 humpback whales off the coast.

The postponed crab season is meant to protect whales and sea turtles from becoming entangled or captured in fishing gear. The protected crab fishing zones run from Mendocino County down to Mexico.

Scott Edson, a fisherman who fishes in Bodega Bay and Half Moon Bay, said the delays are becoming the norm every year. He used to go out in November, but he now wonders if he will ever go crab fishing before Thanksgiving. One of his biggest concerns is the weather now that they will start in December. Bad weather leads to an increased risk of rolling the boat over, putting a crew and boat in danger. The local boats in his area are smaller, and they struggle to compete with large companies and other boats from Eureka and Washington.

“It’s definitely difficult the later and later it goes. The weather gets so much worse. It just gets dicey being out there. We’re holding out hope it will be Dec. 1,” Edson said. “There’s a point where you can do the job, but it becomes really dangerous to do, and you have to call it.”

Read the full story at The Daily Journal

With tough whale rules in place, California crabbers wait for humpbacks to move on

November 13, 2020 — California fishermen expected to be geared up this week for the Nov. 15 Dungeness crab season opener. But with another autumn aggregation of humpback whales feeding close to shore – and tough new state rules to avoid gear entanglements – the fleet is sitting tight for two weeks.

That means no fresh crab for Thanksgiving, a California coast tradition. It’s the first pre-emptive delay ordered by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife under the recently finalized Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP). Those regulations could result in shutting down the fishery if entanglements occur.

Delaying the Dungeness crab season off California’s central coast until Dec. 1 will probably allow enough time for for humpback whales to migrate out of the area, state wildlife officials say. They will assess the whale movements and risk for entanglements in fishing gear again in the central and northern coast areas before the rescheduled opening, said Fish and Wildlife director Charlton Bonham.

“The fleet has gone to great lengths to be more nimble in order to protect whales and turtles, and the results are promising,” Bonham said in announcing the decision Nov. 5. “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.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

‘Uptick’ in horseshoe crab population but numbers still not great, expert says

November 13, 2020 — Researchers scouring beaches from Brooklyn to Montauk found nearly four times the number of horseshoe crabs than they did last year, but a lead scientist said it’s little cause for celebration.

The annual survey, conducted during the crabs’ prime breeding season of May to August by the Center for Environmental Research and Coast Oceans Monitoring at Molloy College, found 957 horseshoe crabs this year compared with last year’s 16-year low of just 243. This year’s number is also the highest in the past four years: 2,202 were found in 2016.

On Long Island, iconic horseshoe crabs are used not for food but chiefly as a bait, to catch whelks, also known locally as conch, and eels. Whelks have been important to Long Island fishermen after the large drop-off in the Long Island lobster population.

State regulators say the 2020 commercial harvest was down, but they are still analyzing population data. A 2019 assessment by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission found the New York horseshoe crab population to be in “poor condition.”

Read the full story at Newsday