The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has announced that the Dungeness crab season in Mendocino County’s Northern Management Area (Zones 1 and 2) will remain closed until Jan. 15, 2025, due to delays in the required industry-sponsored crab meat quality testing.
A press release from CDFW states the commercial crab fishery will open at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 15, with a 25% reduction in the number of traps that can be used in these areas. A pre-soak period, during which crab traps can be set in the water but not hauled, will begin on Jan. 12 at 8:01 a.m.
To the south, from the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the U.S./Mexico border (Zones 3-6), the crab season will open on Jan. 5, 2025, at 12:01 a.m., with a 50% reduction in traps, starting with a pre-soak on Jan. 2 at 8:01 a.m.
The delay to the northern season follows several years of late openings due to concerns about protecting marine life, particularly whales, which are at risk of becoming entangled in crab traps. Last year, the northern fishing zones opened on Jan. 5, while central zones were delayed until Jan. 18. Despite these delays, the Dungeness crab fishery in California remains one of the state’s most profitable, averaging $45 million annually.
“Opening the Dungeness crab fishery is a difficult decision that requires balancing the need to protect marine life with the needs of the fishing community,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “Reducing the number of traps in the water is one way we can minimize the risk to marine mammals while allowing the fishery to open as early as possible.”
This year’s season opener follows more than five years of research and collaboration to reduce the risk of whale entanglement, including over 150 meetings and more than 50 risk assessments. Commercial fishers are required to reduce the number of traps used by 25% in the northern zones and 50% in the southern zones. The CDFW also encourages fishers to retrieve lost traps and report any derelict gear.
The temporary restriction on recreational crab traps from the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to Lopez Point in Monterey County will be lifted on Jan. 2, 2025, at 8:01 a.m. For more information on the Dungeness crab fishery and regulations, visit CDFW’s Whale Safe Fisheries page and Dungeness crab resources.
One more big step in California’s environmental plan to eliminate all commercial fishing, fishermen and their families. Public, enjoy your polluted crab from China, shrimp raised in the filthy ponds and rivers of South East Asia, and, of course, the piece de resistance, pen raised salmon raised in their own bacteria and viruses, fed soy bean byproducts, and dyed orange for your enjoyment.
piee de la resistene
geez.
anyone been to Safeway lately?. been watching for 4 years the destruction of poultry, pork, beef and fish production on a national level and monitoring the related cooler bins at the store with $10 eggs and $25/ 5 pack of chicken breast et al. anyone seeing a pattern here? they want us to starve to death pure and simple. but heh i guess they have a soft spot in their dark hearts. witness the cooler bin loaded with Gortons frozen fish sticks trucked in all the way from Gloucester, MA
Time to cull the whales then, Biden plan to put “clean” wind energy on coast lines is doing a great job killing whales on the east coast. Build them on the west coast, and we can go fishing again for both recreation and pleasure.
Watch out for flying fiberglass blades breaking through and fiberglass debris on the beach.
I like crab more than blubber anyway.
Get off the internet you zombie.
I see you only want Act Blue speech here, try Russia.
PS Biden is not sane no matter what CNN, CBS NBC, PBS says..
We get the policies that we vote for. Enjoy the results.
Save the whales! More whales equals a healthier ocean. Remember when the fishermen thought that seals were eating all the salmon? That wasn’t true. Nobody talks about that canard now. It’s hard to face the facts that humans are the ones eating everything in the oceans. It’s hard to face the facts that humans are over consuming the world. While the Mendocino Redwood Company monocrops our forest with herbicides and all the profits go out of county with almost nothing for the locals, we look around and see the shrinking opportunities. Yet we don’t say anything to the ag department that allows forests to be turned into nurseries for a single species. Corporations run the world and our government serves them as their masters. Destruction of the forests is connected to the health of our coastline. Always has been. If we stop overtaking everything the environment has to offer we might be able to save ourselves. Whales ad to the health of the oceans. Humans don’t.
You Said: Whales ad to the health of the oceans. Humans don’t.
What gibberish, learn to spell then you can later comprehend.
Go live somewhere with no corporations, good luck.