Quick Take
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife will extend a 50% gear reduction for local Dungeness crab fishers through at least March 14.
Less than a month after the commercial Dungeness crab season opened in the Monterey Bay region, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has extended the gear reduction in all fishing zones south of the Mendocino/Sonoma county line.
The season opener is traditionally in November but was postponed four times due to the presence of humpback whales. When the Dungeness crab season finally opened locally on Jan. 18, fishers were restricted to using only half of their permitted gear.
By reducing the amount of crab gear in the water, the CDFW and the fishing industry say they hoped to both reduce the risk of entanglement by sea life and allow fishers, many of whom are struggling financially due to the delayed season, to get out on the water.
Now that reduction will be extended until at least March 14, the CDFW announced Thursday.
The industry successfully negotiated the 50% gear reduction down from the 70% originally proposed by the CDFW based on a low number of whales off the coast. In January, no whales were spotted in Zone 4, which includes waters off Santa Cruz County.
Over the past year, a record number of whales became entangled in abandoned crab fishing lines, and an endangered leatherback sea turtle was found dead in November off of the Farallon Islands after becoming entangled in gear from a previous season.
“It’s about the minimum we can survive on viably,” fisher Tim Obert told Lookout in January. Obert is a Santa Cruz native who has fished commercially for more than two decades. He serves as president of the Santa Cruz Commercial Fishermen’s Association and sits on the state’s Dungeness Crab Task Force.
Obert said getting more fishers out on the water will reduce entanglements, because they will be able to collect abandoned crab gear in the water – something they have been unable to do over the past year because of a reduced crab season and the cancellation of the salmon season.
CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham noted in a media release in January that it’s been an “extremely challenging year” for the state’s commercial fishing industry. A 50% gear reduction “strikes a balance,” he said. “It protects whales and turtles, and it gets people on the water allowing our hardworking commercial fishing fleet to provide fresh sustainable crab to California residents.”
Local Dungeness crab can be purchased at grocery stores and specialty markets throughout Santa Cruz County for around $12 per pound for cooked crab, down from a high of $20 per pound during the winter holiday season as recently as December 2021. Live crabs can be purchased at H&H Fresh Fish Co. in the Santa Cruz Harbor for $10 per pound.
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