As a result of risks offered to humpback whales, the California Division of Fish and Wildlife introduced it should finish business and leisure Dungeness crab fishing south of Pigeon Level, together with Monterey Bay and Morro Bay, on April 15.
Vertical strains shall be allowed to proceed in different components of Northern California, together with Zones 1-3 in Half Moon Bay, San Francisco and Bodega Bay, the place whales at the moment are returning to their feeding grounds.
This crab season had first opened on Jan. 5.
Officers defined that the whale entanglements off the West Coast reached a six-year excessive in 2024. There are confirmed stories of a humpback whale at the moment entangled in a number of units of Dungeness crab gear of Monterey Bay. The identical whale has been reported entangled three totally different instances since October.
Whale entanglement is deadly in 75% of circumstances, in keeping with the Nationwide Marine Fisheries Service. The whales have a tough time diving and feeding whereas dragging heavy fishing gear for months, which might trigger extreme harm and drowning.
“Based on the department’s own data, in the last three seasons, 33 humpback whales out of a total of 38 were first sighted entangled after the central California crab season closed,” Dr. Geoff Shester, Oceana’s California marketing campaign director and senior scientist, stated in an announcement. “This repeated pattern of waiting too long to close the fishery is harming endangered whale populations and is a disservice to local fishing communities.”
Scientists estimate that the reported entanglements are solely 10% of the particular entanglements, in keeping with Oceana.
“California’s plan for reducing whale entanglements is not working,” Shester stated. “Keeping the Bay Area and Northern California crab season open right now presents an extreme risk to endangered whales — with very low reward — that will ultimately hurt California fishing communities in the long-term.”
After a season ends in a fishing zone, fishermen might proceed in search of crab whereas utilizing pop-up fishing gear underneath experimental fishing permits. This gear shops the rope and buoy with a lure on the seafloor till an acoustic launch mechanism sends the buoy to the floor.
Pop-up gear was examined by 19 fishermen final spring, whereas waters had been closed to traditional crab gear to forestall whale entanglements. These fishermen noticed a 98% success fee and yielded $1.5 million value of crab, in keeping with Oceana.
