Saving Seafood

Record number of invasive green crab found on Annette Island, potential impacts to subsistence fishing

November 13, 2025 — It was the first sunny morning in days, and two scientists donned in Xtratuf boots carefully strolled along a rocky, grassy shoreline. They were at Settlers Cove on the north end of the Tongass Highway. The duo are no strangers to flipping rocks and looking into puddles for carapaces, or crab shells.

Before long, they located the exoskeleton of a Dungeness crab, which is indigenous to Southeast and much of the West Coast. The find is somewhat of a relief to the group, who didn’t spot any invasive European green crabs that day.

But that isn’t always the case. Shells and live crabs were spotted to the north in Ketchikan this summer, and they’ve since been found on eight other beaches along the road system.

Read the full article at KRBD

CALIFORNIA: Why holiday crab tradition in California faces another disrupted season

October 28, 2025 — For many Californians, crab bakes, crab cakes and crab feeds are traditional holiday fare.

But the need to protect humpback whales in California’s coastal waters, combined with widespread domoic acid contamination along the northern coast, has once again put the brakes on the Dungeness commercial fishery and parts of the recreational fishery this fall.

Consuming shellfish contaminated with domoic acid can cause illness and death.

Last week, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced it was delaying the opening of commercial crab fishing statewide until Jan. 1. The season will end July 31. It had been scheduled to start Nov. 1.

New state regulations require the closure of the fishery if three or more humpback whales are confirmed to have been entangled in crab gear during the calendar year. In 2025, four whales have been entangled in commercial Dungeness crab fishery ropes and lines. An additional four humpbacks have been snared in gear that officials suspected but could not confirm was for crab fishing.

Read the full article at The Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA: Commercial Dungeness crab fishing season delayed for all of California

October 27, 2025 — The commercial Dungeness crab fishing season has been delayed for all of California.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that the presence of whales and leatherback sea turtles has stopped the starting of crab season. The season would have begun Nov. 1.

Recreation Dungeness crab season will open on Nov. 1 along the coast of the Central Coast and the Monterey Bay, but with some restrictions.

The use of crab traps between the areas of the Sonoma and Mendocino County line and Lopez Point, Monterey County, will be restricted.

A Fleet Advisory has also been sent out to avoid dropping any gear in the areas near the whales. Hoop nets also cannot be left unattended for extended periods and must be serviced every two hours.

Read the full article at KSBW

CALIFORNIA: West Coast fisheries ‘incredibly challenged’: McGuire forum addresses Dungeness, salmon impacts

October 6, 2025 — Last week, the California State Senate’s Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture hosted its 50th annual Zeke Grader Fisheries Forum. Scientists and representatives from various state agencies, tribal government, industry and environmental groups met to discuss challenges facing kelp forests off our shores, the future of a later and later Dungeness crab season and a salmon fishery now in its third consecutive year of commercial fishing closure.

Committee Chair Senator Mike McGuire opened proceedings by noting the challenges the state’s fisheries are facing as well as some of the state’s redoubled efforts and funding, via Proposition 4 funding and other legislative commitments, to improve resiliency along the California coast and waterways.

“I think that we can all agree, fisheries on the West Coast, salmon and Dungeness crab both, … have been incredibly challenged over the past several years, and it seems for every step forward that we take, two steps are taken back,” McGuire said. “… We’ve had some wins, though. We had the first recreational salmon fishing season in California in three years. The challenge that we continue to see (is) no commercial salmon fishing for the third straight year, and that has had massive impacts on rural coastal communities, especially in Northern California …

“Protecting (and) preserving our state’s Fisheries and Aquaculture is vital. It’s vital to the long-term health of rural economies up and down this state, and it is also key to the social and cultural diversity we celebrate here in California, especially with tribal nations.”

Read the full article at The Fresno Bee

CALIFORNIA: California wildlife officers find dozens illegally harvesting Dungeness crab

September 24, 2025 — In August, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) officers caught roughly 45 individuals engaged in illegally harvesting Dungeness crab, ultimately issuing 15 citations.

Officers headed to the scene at Thronton Beach in San Francisco after being alerted to “30 people” potentially poaching via the state’s tip line. Law enforcement found close to 45 individuals taking part and opted to approach small groups of poachers as they left the beach.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

California fishery trials ‘whale-safe’ crab gear with big results

September 2, 2025 — The latest and largest full-scale trial of pop-up fishing gear in the California commercial Dungeness crab fishery has concluded with strong results, indicating the gear is both effective for harvest and significantly reduces the risk of whale entanglements.

Conducted under a California Experimental Fishing Permit (EFP), the spring 2025 trials involved 12 commercial crab fishermen operating out of ports from Morro Bay to Crescent City. The project tested ropeless “on-demand” gear developed by Sub Sea Sonics and Guardian Ropeless Systems, which eliminates vertical lines in the water column by keeping lines and buoys stored with the traps until activated by an acoustic signal.

The traditional spring fishery off Central California has been effectively closed for six years due to the risk of whale and sea turtle entanglements. Pop-up gear presents a potential path to reopening these waters while meeting conservation goals.

According to project data, over 120 fishing trips were completed, involving 1,163 gear strings and a total of 25,721 traps. Crabbing was conducted at depths ranging from 27 to 392 feet. Fishers landed more than 217,000 pounds of crab with an estimated value of $1.4 million. The gear achieved a 98% reliability rate, and all gear strings were recovered — either through standard operation or backup retrieval methods — resulting in a 100% recovery rate and a gear loss rate of just 0.2%. In comparison, conventional single-trap gear can see annual gear loss rates between 5% and 10%.

Khevin Mellegers, a crab fisherman out of Santa Cruz who has participated in the EFP since its inception, said, “My intentions were to do this for myself, my family, and also to help provide something for a lot of the other smaller boats.” Reflecting on his experience, he added, “Out of the deployments that I’ve done over the three years, I think I’ve had two failures.” He has completed 568 gear sets.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Oregon State recognized with national engagement award for efforts to reduce whale entanglement

August 27, 2025 — A collaborative research and outreach effort led by Oregon State University to protect whales and sustain Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery has been recognized as one of four regional winners of the 2025 W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Engagement Scholarship Award.

The Oregon whale entanglement project, a transdisciplinary team led by Leigh Torres, researcher in OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute and Oregon Sea Grant Extension marine mammals specialist, now advances to the national stage, where it will compete for the C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Scholarship Award and a $20,000 grand prize to further its work.

This is the second consecutive year OSU has received a Kellogg regional award and the third time in the university’s history.

“We are beyond excited when faculty like Dr. Leigh Torres get national recognition for their engaged scholarship,” said Marina Denny, associate vice provost for engagement in the OSU Division of Extension and Engagement. “This honor reflects the strength of OSU’s partnerships with our Oregon coastal communities and our shared commitment to environmental stewardship and economic resilience.”

Read the full article at Oregon State University

Ropeless fishing gear for catching crabs shows positive results

August 8, 2025 — Ropeless fishing gear is proving effective at avoiding whale entanglements without sacrificing yields for commercial fishermen harvesting Dungeness crabs, according to research findings released by the State of California, nonprofit groups and and industry partners.

In a third consecutive year of state-sponsored trials where Northern California fishermen used what is often called “pop-up gear,” researchers found that 12 boats landed more than 217,000 pounds of Dungeness crab with an estimated value of about $1.4 million, or 18,100 pounds per vessel. Each boat made an average 12 fishing trips along a roughly 130-mile coastal region otherwise closed to Dungeness crab fishing due to risk of whale entanglements, according to researchers.

“The results of this spring’s pop-up gear testing are nothing less than wildly successful. Even with a vast increase in the amount of gear each fisherman was allowed to use, not a single string of fishing gear was lost,” said Geoff Shester, a senior scientist and campaign director with Oceana California, in a news release.

Read the full article at E&E News

CALIFORNIA: Whale-safe pop-up gear could bring crab back to Monterey Bay markets

August 5, 2025 — Pop-up fishing gear is one step closer to becoming available to local crab fishermen.

“We hope to see Monterey Bay fishermen really get back out on the water and keep bringing in crab in a way that’s whale-safe,” said Geoff Shester with Oceana.

In recent years, Monterey Bay has seen the Dungeness crab fishing season closed down or shortened due to the risk of whale entanglements in fishing ropes. The closures have put a financial burden on local fishermen.

“We’ve lost a good number of fishermen who have either retired or stopped fishing and taken land jobs,” said Gasper Catanzaro with Monterey Fish Co.

The pop-up gear is designed to keep whales safe while letting fishermen get back on the water.

“The way the pop-up gear works is all of the lines and buoys stay down with the trap. The fisherman is actually able to push a button on their tablet, see everyone else’s gear as well, and then retrieve the gear,” Shester said. “So, it pops up.”

Shester said Oceana’s most recent trial for the gear was their most successful yet; it brought in $1.4 million worth of crab this past spring.

“We were able to get out on a fishing boat, and every time it popped up, all the fishermen yelled, ‘Science!’” Shester said.

Read the full article at KSBW

CALIFORNIA: California closes Dungeness crab fishery to protect whales from entanglement

June 19, 2025 — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has announced the closure of the Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery in the Northern Management Area to protect whales from entanglement. This decision, assessed under the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP), affects Fishing Zones 1 and 2, spanning from the California-Oregon border to the Sonoma-Mendocino County line.

Marine scientists at Oceana have highlighted the severe damage that entanglement can cause to whales.

“Whales, in particular Humpback Whales, are getting entangled in trap fisheries in that line gear, which then wrap around their flukes or around their fin and cause them injuries and reduced feeding and potentially reduced reproduction as well,” said Oceana’s Campaign Manager & Marine Scientist Caitlynn Birch.

Read the full article at KRCR