Tag Archives: Bodega Bay fisherman Tony Anello
Will pop-up crab pots save Bodega Bay’s crabbing industry?
For nearly five years, Dungeness crabbers have watched their incomes diminish by up to 80% as the California Fish and Game Commission mandated seasonal closures, catch limits, and gear restrictions. The situation, as many crabbers attest, has driven many to their breaking points. “There’s people thinking, why even live?” said Tony Anello, fisher and owner of Spud Point Crab Company in Bodega Bay. Much contributes to the financial and emotional strain on the fishing community: the closure of salmon season, shortened and restricted Dungeness crab seasons, devalued boats, gear and permits, and, as existential background noise, the continued menace of climate change portending rising seas, extreme weather and a warming ocean. Dungeness crab populations do fluctuate from season to season, but, overall, the population has remained steady. The problem for crabbers isn’t crabs. It’s whales. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:50
Shortened Dungeness crab season reflects industry uncertainty
Commercial crabbers have made quick work of this year’s Dungeness crab harvest, bringing substantially fewer crustaceans ashore with each lift. The haul has been so meager that even those who ply the waters south of Mendocino County,,, Closures and major catch restrictions in Alaskan crab fisheries, where king and snow crab stocks have plummeted, has heightened demand this winter for the Dungeness crab caught off Central and Northern California. “The thing that’s saving us is the price,” said Dick Ogg, “We’re down to two or three crabs per pot,” said Bodega Bay fisherman Tony Anello, one of many getting ready to pack it in. (Then the conversation of ropeless fishing begins,,,) >Click to read< – Campaigners say ropeless technology could spare whales in the Firth of Forth >click to read< 09:28
