Saving Seafood

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

ALASKA: Bristol Bay red king crab fishery trends toward closure as fleet reports slow fishing, aging stock

November 20, 2019 — Next fall, the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery could face its first closure in 25 years.

This season, the 54-vessel fleet has reported slow, spotty fishing, and the stock continues to show signs of decline. The current quota — 3.8 million pounds — is the lowest since the fishery was rationalized in 2005.

“A lot of boats had to scratch their way through the season,” said Ethan Nichols, assistant area management biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “There were only one to two large schools of legal males that were reported to us from captains out on the grounds. So the season was definitely a bit of a grind.”

With 99 percent of the harvest landed, Nichols said the average number of crab caught in each pot is down five from last season, marking the lowest catch per unit effort since rationalization.

The average crab weight, however, continues to go up.

“Last year, it was 7.1 pounds. Right now, we have an average weight of 7.14 pounds,” said Nichols. “It’s the highest average weight in the history of the fishery.”

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

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

OREGON: Officials delay the Dungeness crab season, crabs aren’t big

November 15, 2019 — Traditional Christmas feasts featuring Dungeness crab may not be in the cards this year as officials have delayed the commercial crabbing season due to the small size of the crustaceans.

The Mail Tribune reports that the season had been set to start Dec. 1 for Oregon’s most lucrative commercial fishery, but now crabbing has been postponed until at least Dec. 16.

It’s the sixth straight year the season has been delayed to allow the Dungeness crabs a chance to fatten up to meet industry standards.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

NOAA to implement new regs on Jonah crab fishery

November 14, 2019 — The profile of the humble Jonah crab, once considered mere bycatch in the lobster fishery, continues to rise.

On Dec. 19, NOAA Fisheries will implement new regulations that will sharpen the scope and definition of the Jonah crab fishery in federal waters by establishing permitting requirements and setting size and possession limits.

The new federal measures closely replicate Jonah crab fishery management plans already enacted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates Jonah crabs on an interstate level, and many East Coast states — including Massachusetts.

“The federal regulations that are being issued mirror those set in place by ASMFC when they released the Jonah Crab Fishery Management Plan in 2015,” said Derek Perry, a crab biologist with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. “More than 99% of Jonah crabs are caught in federal waters, so this is mostly a federal waters fishery.”

So, beginning on Dec. 12, only vessels with a federal American lobster trap or non-trap permit may retain Jonah crab in federal waters. The minimum size will be the same as set by Massachusetts for state waters — 4.75 inches across the carapace.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Hawaii researchers study Kona crab release mortality

November 13, 2019 — A rare Hawaiian delicacy and tightly regulated, Kona crab is a small artisanal fishery that lands but a few thousand pounds every year.

Also called spanner crab, all females must be released by fishermen, along with males of less than 4 inches carapace length. But freeing crabs from the traditional baited hoop nets can come at the cost of some crabs’ limbs.

A team of Honolulu-based researchers, funded with a Saltonsall-Kennedy grant from the NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands regional office, is conducting a study to see how those liberated crabs fare in the wild.

Previous research suggests up to 80 percent of the crabs caught are released, according to NOAA. The consultants of Poseidon Fisheries Research are conducting the new study to follow up on 2017-2018 aquarium experiments to determine how often crabs are injured – typically losing one of more dactyls, the last segment of their limbs – and how often they survive.

That study indicated nearly 90 percent of the injured crabs survive. The new phase is a catch-and-release study that will use tags, and the help of Hawaii fishermen, to see how they really do in the ocean.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Dungeness crab fishing season delayed due to whale and sea turtle entanglement risk

November 12, 2019 — State Fish and Wildlife officials are delaying the start of the Dungeness crab fishing season due to a threat of whale and sea turtle entanglements.

Charlton Bonham, director of the Fish and Wildlife department, issued a decision to postpone the start date for California Dungeness crab fishermen south of the Mendocino/Sonoma County line for one week — from Nov. 15 to Nov. 22. The decision was based on data indicating the prevalence of whales in the area.

Bonham’s decision to minimize entanglement risk follows a court-approved agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity, a Phoenix-based environmental nonprofit that in 2017 sued the wildlife agency, claiming it had fallen short in preventing Dungeness crab fishing gear from killing humpback, blue whales and leatherback sea turtles. Fish and Wildlife is responsible for granting the fishery its permits.

Bonham originally delayed the start of the season until Nov. 23, but moved it up one day after receiving input from the California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group. The group, made up of commercial and recreational fishermen, environmentalists, members of the disentanglement network, and state and federal agencies explores ways to minimize whale entanglements in crab fishing gear.

Read the full story at The Daily Democrat

NOAA Fisheries Sets Management Measures for the Jonah Crab Fishery

November 12, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries has approved federal measures for the Jonah crab fishery that complement the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Jonah Crab.

Approved measures include:

Sector

Management Measure

Requirement

Commercial

Vessel permitting

Landing requires a federal lobster permit

Minimum size

4.75-inch (12.065-cm) carapace width

Broodstock protection

Prohibit retention of egg-bearing females

Incidental limit

Up to 1,000 crabs per trip

Incidental latch definition

Up to 50 percent of weight onboard

Dealer permitting and reporting

Federal dealer permit required and mandatory Federal dealer reporting

Recreational

Broodstock protection

Prohibit retention of egg-bearing females

Catch limit

50 crabs per day

Read the final rule as filed in the Federal Register and the permit holder bulletin available on our website.

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