Quick Take
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has pushed the opening of the commercial Dungeness crab season to at least early December, due to an abundance of humpback whales migrating along the Central Coast. This is the sixth consecutive year that the commercial season has been delayed to protect whales from becoming entangled in fishing gear used to harvest crabs.
The start date of the commercial Dungeness crab fishing season has been pushed back to at least early December, due to an abundance of humpback whales migrating along the Central Coast, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Friday. The fishery south of the Sonoma/Mendocino county line, which includes Santa Cruz County, was scheduled to open Nov. 15.
CDFW will reassess the risk for Dungeness crab fisheries on the Central Coast in mid-November, and decide whether the commercial season can open on Dec. 1.
The recreational Dungeness crab season will open statewide on Nov. 2. However, using traps is temporarily restricted between the Sonoma/Mendocino County Line and Monterey County, including Monterey Bay, due to the danger of whales becoming entangled in the trap gear. Crabs can be caught using other methods, including hoop nets and crab snares.
This is the sixth consecutive year that the Dungeness crab season has been delayed in order to protect whales from becoming entangled in the fishing gear. During the 2023-24 season, the commercial Dungeness crab season opened in Santa Cruz County on Jan. 18 with some restrictions, after months of delay and four postponements, only to close two months early on April 8.
A representative from Oceana, a nonprofit organization that works to protect and restore the world’s oceans, expressed concern for the high number of whale entanglements already reported this year.
“The alarming number of whales entangled in California fishing gear is evidence that we need stronger, pre-emptive actions to provide whales with safe passage off our shores. It’s heartbreaking that right now there are multiple whales entangled in Monterey Bay,” said marine scientist Caitlynn Birch in a media release. “It’s true that many people are working hard to reduce whale entanglements … but there are still too many whales dying entangled in commercial fishing gear and the current management system is not enough.”
For local fishers like Tim Obert, the decision to delay the season isn’t a surprise. “There were quite a few entanglements in 2024, so we knew it was going to be a longshot to have the season open on time,” said Obert, 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.
Both scientists and fishers are observing high numbers of whales in the water, sometimes close to 100 per day. With more whales, comes more contact with fishers, said Obert. “Hopefully we’ll be able to have contact without mortality,” he said.
After six years, local fishers are used to the delays. “Our hope is that we can open before Christmas for the holiday markets,” said Obert. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed.”
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