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Tag Archives: California Fish and Wildlife

Commercial Dungeness crab season delayed by California Fish and Wildlife

November 18, 2023 Pacific

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife on Friday delayed the opening of the commercial Dungeness crab season, citing the need to protect humpback whales and other ocean life from entanglement. The delay — which will remain in effect until further notice — affects the taking and possession of commercially-caught Dungeness crab for 200 nautical miles extending from the California coastline. Additionally, a fleet advisory is in effect for recreational Dungeness crab, reminding fisheries to maintain best practices. The next risk assessment is scheduled for around Dec. 7. Friday’s decision falls on the heels of a late October call by the department to restrict recreational and commercial crab fishing in the state. >>click to read<< 09:01

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California’s Dungeness crab season delayed yet again, this time until Dec. 30

December 8, 2022 Pacific

California Fish and Wildlife officials on Wednesday evening announced another postponement in the commercial Dungeness crab season for the entire state coast — the third delay this season. There are two geographically based reasons behind the decision: From the Sonoma/Mendocino County line south to the Mexican border, a risk assessment undertaken Wednesday determined there is still a high concentration of migrating whales that could get tangled in fishing gear. It’s the fourth consecutive year of delays to protect the humpbacks. On the far north coast, whales have moved south from Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties, but state officials said testing of crabs caught in these waters showed low meat quality, hence the continued ban there. >click to read< 08:56

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Finally! Commercial Dungeness Crab Season opens in the Bay Area

December 29, 2021 National, Pacific

“We’ve been delayed here because of the whales being present,” said John Barnett who owns the crabbing boat, The F/V Amigo, docked at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. California Fish and Wildlife pushed the Dungeness crab season back to December 29th to give whales in the area more time to leave the fishing grounds, and now they’re gone. “We’re ready to go fishing,” >video, >click to read< 07:40

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Dungeness crab fleet readies for opener as weather hampers season start for some

December 15, 2019 Pacific

A monthlong delay in the opening of the Dungeness season will conclude this weekend, allowing the commercial fleet to get out on the water and start pulling in traps on Sunday.,,, many small-boat captains in the North Bay plan to wait even longer for ocean conditions to calm, so it’s safer to deploy their heavy fishing equipment. “It’s day by day,” veteran Bodega Bay fisherman Tony Anello said. 17 Photos, >click to read< 15:20

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Dungeness crab fishing season delayed due to whale and sea turtle entanglement risk

November 11, 2019 Pacific

Charlton Bonham, director of the Fish and Wildlife department, issued a decision to postpone the start date for California Dungeness crab fishermen south of the Mendocino/Sonoma County line for one week — from Nov. 15 to Nov. 22. The decision was based on data indicating the prevalence of whales in the area. Bonham’s decision to minimize entanglement risk follows a court-approved agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity, a Phoenix-based environmental nonprofit that in 2017 sued the wildlife agency,,, >click to read< 16:52

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Commercial Crabber Fined for Overfishing

February 8, 2016 National

California wants a Washington state seafood company fined for the nearly two tons of dead Dungeness crabs it had to dump from a 17-ton haul: far more “dead loss” than can lawfully be taken even with a permit. A California Fish and Wildlife warden found defendant Pacific Dream’s commercial fishing boat, the Renard unloading crab caught in or around Half Moon Bay on Nov. 23, 2014. The captain showed a Dungeness Crab Vessel Permit and acknowledged the dead crabs came from his ship. The warden found 3,850 lbs. of dead crabs and 31,436 lbs. of live crabs. Read the rest here 12:39

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Ocean Resource Privatization

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The New England groundfish debacle (Part III): who or what is at fault? Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet

It took me a while to decide how to most accurately describe the situation that has been visited upon the New England fishing communities that are and since colonial times have been dependent on the groundfish fisheries.

NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?

While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here

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