Crab season ends to protect whales

With humpback whales heading back to their feeding grounds off coastal California and gray whales migrating north to Alaska, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced it closed the commercial and recreational Dungeness crab fisheries in southern and central fishing zones Monday to reduce the risk of entanglements.

Recently, spotters with the department counted as many as 34 humpbacks in one day, said Ryan Bartling, a senior environmental scientist at the wildlife agency. The increased presence of whales observed by planes overhead and vessels on the water triggered the decision to close the fishing season Monday.

“As it becomes summer, it is not uncommon to see dozens of groups of humpbacks foraging between Monterey Bay and the Gulf of the Farallones (near San Francisco),” he said.

With the closure, the wildlife department also is expected to examine new draft regulations for the fishery, which could set even stricter requirements for when crab fishermen can start fishing with lines and pots and when the season must end.

In former years, before a settlement that led to current regulations limiting the season when the giant mammals are spotted in larger numbers, Dungeness crab fishermen typically started in midNovember and pulled their traps in June. This season, they weren't allowed to start until late January; fishermen since have pulled in 13 million pounds of crabs worth about $43.4 million.

Whales and other animals of the sea can get wrapped up in the lines that connect the pots catching crabs on the ocean floor to buoys on the water's surface. In 2023, 27 whales were caught in fishing gear off the West Coast, five of which were wrapped up in California Dungeness crab gear, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration