November 22, 2024 — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced it will further delay the season opener for the commercial Dungeness crab fishery off the central and southern coasts.
The decision is based on the high number of whales recently tangled in crab fishing ropes, and also data that shows that a large number of whales are in the area.
November 22, 2024 — Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab season is delayed coastwide until at least Dec. 16, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced yesterday. Pre-season testing shows that Dungeness crabs are too low in meat yield in some ocean areas and have elevated domoic acid in crab viscera (guts) in two areas on the south coast.
Oregon’s ocean commercial Dungeness crab season, targeted to open Dec. 1, can be delayed so consumers get a high-quality product and crabs are not wasted.
The commercial bay crab fishery (currently open from Cape Blanco to the Washington border) closes at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 1 in conjunction with the delayed ocean commercial season. The commercial bay crab season runs through Dec. 31 but will only reopen in December if the ocean commercial season does so.
November 22, 2024 — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has ordered another delay in the commercial Dungeness crab fishing season — the second so far this year.
The risk of whales becoming tangled in crab fishing gear remains high for most of the coastal waters from the Mendocino County line south to the Mexican border, director Charlton H. Bonham announced Thursday.
The postponement allows more time for the whales’ safe passage to their winter breeding grounds.
In the far north, where crabbing was supposed to be allowed starting Dec. 1, there’s a second issue: Tests on crab meat quality could not be conducted because of high levels of domoic acid found in the samples collected.
Domoic acid, a toxin that could sicken anyone who eats the tainted crab, destroyed Northern California’s 2015-2016 commercial season and created delays in other years.
Lisa Damrosch, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, said that while her members are eager to get out on the water — “it’s critical for local food production and the economic health of our coastal ports” — they understand the safeguards that have been put in place.
November 5, 2024 — The start of the commercial Dungeness crab season in California has been delayed once again and local fishermen like Tom Capen are calling it the “new norm.”
Although the delay this time didn’t come as a surprise to Capen, he says it’s still a serious setback.
“The price of fuel is doubled, tripled and the price of bait is doubled, so it’s hard to make it now,” Capen says.
The delay affects Fishing Zones 3 and 4, which includes the Central Coast. California Fish and Wildlife made the call in an effort to protect humpback whales from potential trap entanglement.
November 1, 2024 — California Dungeness crab, a staple of holiday celebrations for many West Coast families, won’t be widely available before early December and possibly not until next year – again.
For the sixth year in a row, the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife has delayed the start of the commercial crab fishing season through most of the state’s coast to protect endangered humpback whales from getting entangled in vertical fishing lines, which can result in injuries and death.
Dungeness crabs, larger, meatier and more abundant in California than other species, are treasured by locals as well as tourists, who frequently consume them at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. The crustaceans are mostly found in the central and northern parts of the state.
October 29, 2024 — The start of the commercial Dungeness crab season in California has been delayed for the seventh year in a row to protect humpback whales from becoming entangled in trap and buoy lines.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife said Friday that commercial crabbing will be delayed until at least Dec. 1. The situation will be reassessed on or around Nov. 15.
It’s the latest delay for the start of the commercial season, which traditionally begins in mid-November for waters between the Mendocino county line and the border with Mexico.
September 19, 2024 — A trial of innovative crab fishing gear designed to reduce whale entanglements is being hailed as a resounding success that should advance widespread use of the new technology off the California coast sometime soon.
But the reception to the trial and reports of its success have opened a window into profound conflict within the Dungeness crab fleet over the future of the industry, the squeeze of government regulations, and mistrust of the technology and those who promote it.
May 26, 2024 — For Brand Little and the crew of the Pale Horse, fishing for Dungeness crab is an increasingly tight business. Like the rest of the fleet, he’s watched the crabbing season shrink, with early closures meant to protect migrating whales from becoming entangled in trap lines. But this season, he’s still pushing his traps into the sea, weeks after last month’s official closing.
It’s part of an experimental program that’s now expanded to more than two dozen boats. All using special pop-up trap systems, designed to avoid entanglements.
“It’s a lot more work. Takes maybe three to four times as long as traditional gear. It’s not easy, but what we’ve been going through isn’t easy either. I mean, we’ve had 80% of our opportunity taken away,” Little said.
While it’s lying on the ocean floor, the boat is able to locate the individual trap, and then trigger the release using a remote device. The buoy shoots to the surface, carrying the line with it. The crew retrieves the line and pulls up the trap, limiting the time a whale could come in contact with it.
Little was one of two beta testers.
April 17, 2024 — The commercial Dungeness crab fishing industry was closed early in central and southern California on April 8 because of entanglement risks from returning Humpback whales to state waters where they forage.
Traditionally, the Dungeness crab fishing season runs from November through June using vertical line fishing gear that spans from the surface to the seafloor.
Whales can get trapped in these vertical lines, including whales that are protected as endangered.
After whale entanglements spiked from 2015 to 2018, the Dungeness crab season has faced delay or closure since 2019.
Season closures are affecting the fishing business, but now during this closure, a handful of commercial fishermen such as Brand Little, are testing a whale-safe kind of fishing gear, called “pop-up” or “ropeless” fishing gear, hoping the state will authorize this alternative for use next season, so fishermen can still work.
Commercial fisherman Brand Little described how the first test of the spring season went with about 20 fishermen.
“They said it went remarkably well. Everything popped up, everything came back, they caught crabs and they’re like, this is so much better than putting the gear in the gear shed and quit making money. We still have a couple months left in our statutory season, so this isn’t as great as the way we normally do it, but this is better than nothing,” Little said.
February 5, 2024 — As Washington’s coastal Dungeness crab commercial season opens this week — a mean, green menace continues to threaten to create a “crab crisis” in the Pacific Northwest.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says European green crabs are continuing to cause issues, despite efforts by the federal government.
KIRO Newsradio’s Kate Stone was invited by a local seafood company to get a firsthand look at the efforts to quell the invasion of European green crabs in Washington waters.