High presence of humpback whales off the Central Coast delays opening of crab fishing season.

As concerns about whale entanglements caused by standard crab fishing gear continue to be at the top of mind for environmental watchdogs and state and federal regulators, Charlton Bonham, director of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, announced Friday, Oct. 27 that commercial and recreational crab fishing season along much of the California coast, which was set to open Nov. 15, has been delayed indefinitely, including in Monterey Bay.

Charlton’s statement notes that in “zone 4"—a range along the Central Coast that stretches from Pigeon Point north of Santa Cruz to Lopez Point in Big Sur— commercial whale watching trips throughout the summer and fall counted a weekly average of 16.2 humpbacks in Monterey Bay.

Additionally, aerial surveys by NOAA researchers from Oct. 4-6 counted 30 humpbacks in Monterey Bay, enough for CDFW regulators to calculate that the risk of entanglement from crab fishing was too high for humpbacks—which remain classified as an endangered species—for the season to open just yet. 

In an Oct. 27 statement from nonprofit Oceana, Geoff Shester, Oceana’s California campaign director and senior scientist, said he applauded the decision, but stressed that the risk of entanglements with traditional gear, if and when the crab fishing season opens, will still be unacceptably high, and that the state needs to update its regulations next year. 

In recent years, Oceana has been promoting the use of a new, experimental type of “pop-up” crab fishing gear wherein the crab pot’s buoy and rope are sunk with the pot itself, and then released to the surface for retrieval via an acoustic transmitter from the fishing boat. 

Experimental permits were issued last year to test the gear, and Oceana expects that large-scale commercial testing next spring will enable the gear to be authorized for widespread use by 2025. 

CDFW will be making an updated risk assessment as it relates to the fishery by Nov. 17.