California Expands Use of Innovative Pop-up Fishing Gear in Dungeness Crab Fishery
Fish and Game Commission takes critical action to save whales and commercial crab fishery
Press Release Date: December 11, 2024
Location: Sacramento, Calif.
Contact:
Ashley Blacow | email: ablacow@oceana.org | tel: 1.831.643.9220
Today, the California Fish and Game Commission took action to expand Dungeness crab pop-up fishing gear trials in spring 2025. This follows gear testing earlier this year that proved successful, profitable, and safe for whales migrating and feeding off the California coast. Expansion of the trials will double the number of fishermen who can access pop-up fishing gear and increase the number of traps that can be fished under the Sub Sea Sonics/Guardian Ropeless Experimental Fishing Permit (EFP).
Pop-up fishing gear (also called “ropeless” or “on-demand”) is a way to prevent whale entanglements while providing additional fishing opportunities. Rather than a line connecting a buoy at the surface to a trap on the seafloor that can hang in the water column for days, pop-up gear stores the rope and buoy with the trap on the seafloor until a fisherman triggers the release mechanism that sends the buoy to the surface when the fishing vessel arrives to retrieve the crab catch. By removing the vertical lines from the water column, fishermen using pop-up gear remove the risk of entangling passing whales and sea turtles.
Dr. Geoff Shester, Oceana’s California campaign director and senior scientist, and a member of the California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group, issued the following statement in response:
“We applaud the California Fish and Game Commission and Department of Fish and Wildlife for this critical action towards saving whales. By allowing more fishermen to use pop-up fishing gear, managers are charting a sustainable and productive future for California’s Dungeness crab fishery. Expanded gear testing will pave the way for fleetwide authorization of pop-up fishing gear for use in the springtime when conventional crab traps are prohibited due to whale entanglement risk. Fishermen are at the forefront of re-innovating California’s Dungeness crab fishery, and we are now one step closer to California residents and restaurants being able to purchase whale-safe Dungeness crab.”
Thirty-four whales have been confirmed entangled in fishing gear so far this year off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington, according to preliminary data from NOAA Fisheries. Dungeness crab fishing gear is the most common gear involved in these entanglements. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) reports that four humpback whales were confirmed entangled in California commercial Dungeness crab gear so far this year, with an additional nine humpbacks entangled in unidentified fishing gear that may be California Dungeness crab gear.
Trials of pop-up fishing gear off California in spring 2024—the largest and most successful of its kind on the U.S. West Coast—involved 19 commercial California Dungeness crab fishermen who brought in 229,000 pounds of crab worth $1.5M, with high reliability and minimal gear loss. At the same time the waters off central California were closed to conventional crab gear to prevent whale entanglements. Under the expanded EFP, up to 40 fishermen can use pop-up gear and fish with up to 50 traps per fishing line and their full number of traps in spring 2025. CDFW is working to finalize new regulations that will enable them to authorize pop-up gear for widespread springtime use beginning in 2026. Doing so could allow crab fishing without danger to whales and other wildlife and revive the spring crabbing season off California’s central coast.
For more details about the spring 2024 pop-up fishing gear trials please see this statement from the gear manufacturers (Sub Sea Sonics and Guardian Ropeless Systems) and fishermen.
To learn more about Oceana’s campaign for whale safe oceans please visit www.oceana.org/WhaleSafeOceans
Oceana is the largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Oceana is rebuilding abundant and biodiverse oceans by winning science-based policies in countries that control one-quarter of the world’s wild fish catch. With more than 300 victories that stop overfishing, habitat destruction, oil and plastic pollution, and the killing of threatened species like turtles, whales, and sharks, Oceana’s campaigns are delivering results. A restored ocean means that 1 billion people can enjoy a healthy seafood meal every day, forever. Together, we can save the oceans and help feed the world. Visit Oceana.org to learn more.
