The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has decided to close part of its commercial Dungeness crab fishery to protect whales from entanglement in fishing gear, although crabbing will be allowed to continue in the state’s three northernmost fishing zones.
Early closures and delayed starts to the season due to the presence of whales – which can be entangled in the vertical lines used in pot fisheries such as Dungeness crab – have become a regular occurrence in recent years. The 2024-2025 season was delayed several weeks due to the presence of humpback and gray whales, only opening the southernmost four fishing zones on 5 January 2025, once state regulators determined enough whales had left the area. The two remaining zones in the North opened their season a bit over a week later on 15 January.
Now, the state is set to close the southern half of the state to Dungeness crab fishing after discovering more than a dozen whales in waters being fished.
“On March 25, 2025, a Department aerial survey documented a total of 16 humpback whales within Fishing Zone 4,” CDFW Director Charlton Bonham said in an announcement. “Pursuant to [state regulations], I must implement a Fishing Zone closure or other protective management action in the commercial Dungeness crab fishery.”
On 15 April, the state will close Fishing Zones 4, 5, and 6, which encompass state waters from Pigeon Point south to the state’s border with Mexico. Fishing Zones 1, 2, and 3 will remain open, although regulators are …
