Quick Take:
The Dungeness crab season will close on April 8, more than two months earlier than its traditional closure on June 15, due to the presence of migrating humpback whales off the coast of California. It's yet another blow to Santa Cruz County's fishing industry facing delays, restrictions and cancelations on its most lucrative catches.
After a late opening in mid-January, the Dungeness crab season on the Central Coast will close more than a month early. The last day for the season will be April 8, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced late last week, citing an increase in the number of humpback whales in the area as they return north from their migration off the coast of Mexico.
The early closure affects all of the commercial fisheries south of the Sonoma/Mendocino county line, including Santa Cruz County. The northernmost fisheries will remain open, but may only fish in waters 30 fathoms – 180 feet – or less. Recreational crab traps are also prohibited in fishing zones 3, 4, and 5 – south of Point Arena to Point Conception in Santa Barbara County, including Santa Cruz County – although crabs may be caught through other means, including hoop nets and snares.
The Dungeness crab season traditionally closes on June 15, but it has closed in April or May for the last few years, says Hans Haveman, co-owner of H&H Fresh Fish Co. in Santa Cruz. “It closed around this time last year. As soon as the whales start showing up, they close it up,” says Haveman. “It’s almost like they never really left. There may have been fewer here, but they didn’t go too far away, it seems like, and they’re already back.”
The opening of the season was postponed four times this season due to the presence of humpback whales heading south along the coast of California. The whales can become entangled in the crab fishing lines, and last year there were a record number of whale fatalities, including the death of an endangered leatherback sea turtle off of the Farallon Islands.
As a result, the CDFW postponed opening the season until mid-January and reduced the number of traps crab fishers could use by 50%, hoping that fewer lines in the water would reduce the risk of entanglement by sea life. The fishing industry successfully negotiated the 50% gear reduction from the 70% originally proposed by the CDFW based on a low number of whales off the coast at that time. “It’s about the minimum we can survive on viably,” fisher Tim Obert, the president of the Santa Cruz Commercial Fishermen’s Association, told Lookout in January.
The news is yet another blow to the local fishing industry, which has faced delays, restrictions and cancellations to its most lucrative catches, including several short Dungeness crab seasons and the cancellation of the salmon season in 2023. This year, the salmon season will either include heavy restrictions on catches or be canceled outright.
H&H Fresh Fish Co. stocks other local fish like rockfish, black cod and halibut, as well as sustainable fish from along the West Coast like bluefin tuna. Haveman says he will continue to offer live and cooked local crab through mid-April, and might bring crabs down from northern California after that. But, the closure puts an end to his wholesale sales, which amounts to “a few thousand pounds a week,” says Haveman. “That’s quite a bit of money out of my pocket.”