April 26, 2021 — Pacific Ocean humpback whales gained more protection this week as the National Marine Fisheries Service designated more than 115,000 square nautical miles as critical habitat.
The final rule covers three threatened or endangered populations of humpbacks: the Western North Pacific distinct population segment (endangered), the Central America DPS (endangered), and the Mexico DPS (threatened).
April 22, 2021 — NOAA Fisheries has issued a final rule that designates three critical habitat areas for humpback whales in U.S. waters in the Pacific Ocean.
According to the document, published in the Federal Register, two of the three distinct population segments of humpbacks are considered endangered based on the Endangered Species Act, while a third segment is deemed threatened.
April 21, 2021 — The Biden administration finalized a rule that will conserve approximately 118,000 square nautical miles of the Pacific Ocean as protected habitat for the humpback whale.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration finalized the rule that conserves a large swath of ocean off the coast of North America, spanning from Southern California to the Bering Sea in Alaska.
Conservationists tout the rule as necessary to protect three separate populations of endangered whales from ship strikes, entanglements with fishing nets and oil spills.
“Pacific humpbacks finally got the habitat protections they’ve needed for so long,” said Catherine Kilduff, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Now we need to better protect humpbacks from ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear, their leading causes of death.”
The finalization of the rule comes after a lengthy court battle between conservationists and the U.S. government ended in a 2018 settlement.
December 21, 2020 — November is when the koholā (humpback whales) return to Hawaiʻi to breed, birth and nurse calves. An estimated 8,000 to 12,000 of the protected marine mammals migrate from Alaska to the Islands’ warm, shallow waters through April, when they head back north again.
This year, though, the first North Pacific humpback whale sighting was reported on Oct. 8 off Maui, according to the Pacific Whale Foundation—earlier than normal. Researchers at the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, a 13,700-square-mile sanctuary created in 1992 to protect whales in their preferred habitat around the Islands, are getting reports of whale sightings from around the state.
They are also hopeful that total numbers of whales that will be counted this season—now through March 2021—will trend upward. In 2016, numbers dropped nearly 50%, likely due to a lack of food. That was the same year the koholā were removed from the endangered species list.
The COVID-19 pandemic may affect the whale count, too, with fewer whale tours running and fewer visitors in the Islands.
“We can say that (in 2019-20), whale abundance and singing activity was the highest in about five years, indicating that whale numbers in Hawaiʻi have been increasing,” said Marc Lammers, research coordinator with the humpback whale sanctuary, in a webinar he presented last month on the sanctuary’s website.
December 10, 2020 — When humpback whales migrated to Glacier Bay in Alaska this year to spend the long summer days feeding, they arrived to something unusual: quieter waters.
As the COVID-19 pandemic slows international shipping and keeps cruise ships docked, scientists are finding measurably less noise in the ocean. That could provide momentary relief for whales and other marine mammals that are highly sensitive to noise.
Through networks of underwater hydrophones, scientists are hoping to learn how the mammals’ communication changes when the drone of ships is turned down, potentially informing new policies to protect them.
“More needs to be done,” says Jason Gedamke, who manages the ocean acoustics program at NOAA Fisheries. “When you have animals that for millions of years have been able to communicate over vast distances in the ocean, and then once we introduce noise and have increased sound levels and they can’t communicate over those distances, clearly there’s going to be some impact there.”
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.
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.
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.”
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.”
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.”