Tag Archives: Pop-up fishing gear
Tension grows among Bay Area crab fishermen to find whale-safe alternative crabbing methods
State regulators say the prevalence of marine life including humpback whales is too high for crab fishing to begin. Now there’s a growing tension among crab fishermen about alternative methods of whale-safe fishing to offset the losses of increasingly shortened seasons. Dick Ogg is a crab fisherman who also spends countless hours driving up and down the coast, advocating for others in the business without getting paid. Fishing is in the 72-year-old’s veins. Between calls with regulators and industry decision makers, Ogg prepares his own crab pots, employing just two deckhands who work in the side-yard of his home to save costs. But the Bodega Bay resident is concerned about a years-long push to promote high-tech “pop-up” fishing gear as the solution for whale-safe harvesting in the spring after the season ends. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:26
California commercial Dungeness crab fishing season delayed
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced a delay in the season opener for California commercial Dungeness crab fishing off the Central and Southern Coast to protect whales from entanglement. The decision is based on a combination of excessive humpback whale entanglements in California Dungeness crab gear over the last three years and high numbers of recent humpback whale sightings off the central coast according to CDFW’s Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program criteria. Due to number of entanglements, NMFS is proposing to upgrade the California commercial Dungeness crab fishery to a Category I fishery,,, >>click to read<< 08:09
This fishing gear can help save whales. What will it take for fishermen to use it?
Fishing boats would normally still be unloading Dungeness crabs at San Francisco’s fisherman’s wharf in May. This year, the docks were quiet, except for one berth. “We’re the only boat right now,” says Brand Little, standing next to a large tank of bright red crabs on the deck of his boat, the Pale Horse. State regulators closed the Dungeness season two months early this year, due to the arrival of humpback whales in the area. On both the East and West Coasts, crab and lobster fishermen are seeing their fishing seasons shrink over concerns that whales are getting entangled in the long ropes attached to their gear, accidents that often end up injuring or killing the animals. Photos, >click to read< 08:08
