Tag Archives: commercial Dungeness crab gear
California Crab Groups Oppose Legislation Requiring ‘Ropeless’ Gear
The crabbing season has been repeatedly delayed by state agencies citing concerns about whale sightings,,, The most recent industry challenge comes in the form of proposed legislation which would require crabbers and many other fishermen to use “ropeless” traps by the end of 2025 in order to avoid killing or harming sea creatures which can become snared in lines stretching from a trap at the sea-floor to a buoy at the surface. In a recent press release, Ben Platt, president of the California Coast Crab Association, an industry group formed last year, says AB 534 “promotes an unproven and unviable fishing method that presents significant operational and safety risks to West Coast fisheries.” >click to read< 08:13
California crab fisherman are concerned the so-called ‘ropeless’ fishing gear, is not the answer
Is the so-called “ropeless” fishing gear the silver bullet for solving the perceived problem of marine mammal interactions in California’s crab fisheries. Several profit-driven environmental groups, including Oceana would like the public and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to believe these baseless claims. That’s because these groups are ramping up efforts to force California’s historic and economically most important fishery – which helps create millions of dollars annually for working families – to adopt expensive, impractical and unworkable new fishing gear, which would force most crab fishermen out of business. By Johnny Atkinson >click to read< 15:33
Fisheries Omnibus Bill of 2018 – California Lawmakers Act to Protect Whales, Turtles From Entanglement
The California Senate yesterday sent legislation to Gov. Jerry Brown to sign that requires the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to adopt regulations to prevent whales and sea turtles from being entangled in commercial Dungeness crab lines. West Coast entanglements have skyrocketed in recent years. California commercial Dungeness crab gear is responsible for the majority of entanglements where the gear could be identified, entangling at least 35 whales from 2015 to 2017. Senate Bill 1309 responded to the crisis by requiring regulations by November 1, 2020, and directing the department to restrict fishing as needed until then to prevent a significant risk of entanglements. >click to read<20:33
Lawsuit Launched to End Whale, Sea Turtle Entanglements in California Dungeness Crab Gear
The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a formal notice of intent to sue California’s state wildlife agency for failing to prevent commercial Dungeness crab gear from entangling, injuring and killing threatened and endangered humpback whales, blue whales and sea turtles. California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife authorizes and manages operation of the fishery, which last year entangled at least 21 endangered or threatened whales, contributing to a third straight record-breaking year for entanglements along the U.S. West Coast. An endangered leatherback sea turtle was also caught in commercial Dungeness crab gear in 2016. Today’s notice letter notes that the Department’s failure to protect imperiled whales and sea turtles from entanglements in crab gear violates the federal Endangered Species Act. click here to read press release 20:47
