State OKs pop-up gear for spring Dungeness crab season

In a potential win for marine life and Santa Cruz County fishers, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has approved the use of ropeless pop-up gear to catch Dungeness crab. 

For three years, fishers on the Central Coast and Northern California, including one fisherman in Santa Cruz, have tested the gear under experimental permits. Beginning this spring, any licensed crab fisher in the state can apply to use pop-up traps. If approved, permit-holders will be allowed to fish with the ropeless gear from April 1 through July 15, after the main crab season closes. 

Fishing regulators hope keeping crab fishing lines out of the water will prevent whales and other sea life from becoming entangled. In 2025, there were four confirmed whale entanglements in Dungeness crab fishing gear, according to a December CDFW report. Since 2016, the state has shortened the Dungeness crab season by about eight weeks, depending on the year, in order to protect humpback whales and leatherback sea turtles that migrate along the California coast in the fall and spring. 

The shortened season has worsened a growing financial crisis for some Santa Cruz-area fishers who rely on winter crabbing. 

Like traditional crab traps, the ropeless gear rests on the sea floor with bait inside, waiting for unsuspecting purple and red crustaceans to scuttle inside. But instead of being connected to a buoy on the surface by a long rope for hours or days, the fishing line and buoy are stored with the trap. When the fisher is ready to retrieve it, they signal the trap electronically to release the rope and buoy, which pop up to the surface where it can be hauled into the boat. 

Once controversial for its expense and reliance on computers, ropeless gear has won over some skeptics as prices dropped. According to Sub Sea Sonics, one of the main manufacturers of the new crab traps, pop-up systems have a 98% reliability rating. Each pop-up unit costs $1,300, but it can carry up to 25 traditional traps, which cost $100 to $300 each. Each fishing boat also has to invest in a transducer in an electronic box for about $2,000, said Sub Sea Sonics co-founder Bart Chadwick. 

Chadwick said he’s seen a surge of interest since the pop-up traps were officially approved, particularly from fishers along the Central Coast and in the Monterey Bay area. “We have an additional 20 fishermen who are fully committed to getting the gear, probably a list of another 40 who expressed interest,” he said. 

An anonymous donor to Sub Sea Sonics funded $5,000 discounts for up to 30 buyers, and other organizations are offering grants and low-interest loans to help lower the upfront costs for fishers. “That’s a huge help, especially for those smaller boats who don’t necessarily have a ton of capital hanging around. It’s a significant percentage of what they’re paying,” said Chadwick. 

Chadwick said he’s proud that Sub Sea Sonics was part of a solution that allows fishers to regain access to the spring Dungeness crab fishery with gear that minimizes risk to whales. “Our team has put our hearts and souls into a multi-year effort to work with all the stakeholders in this process and bring this solution across the finish line,” he said. “It feels like everyone is a winner.” 

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