Commercial crabbers in California’s Dungeness crab fishery can now use pop-up, or ropeless, gear to continue fishing, even after a fishing area is closed.
“Pop-up gear gives us fishermen the ability to harvest Dungeness crab for the public while the whales and turtles are present,” said Stephen Melz, a commercial Dungeness crab fisher who helped test pop-up gear in the state’s fishery last year. “It is an amazing way that technology and the spirit of innovation have come together to bring back fishing opportunity!”
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) approved Sub Sea Sonics Gear’s pop-up solutions as an “alternative gear” in December 2025. With that designation, commercial fishers can continue harvesting Dungeness crab between 1 April and 15 July with the company’s pop-up gear even if the commercial fishery is closed.
“Sub Sea Sonics is proud to be part of the solution that allows fishermen to regain access to the spring Dungeness crab fishery with gear that minimizes the risk of entanglement to whales,” Sub Sea Sonics Owner Bart Chadwick said in a release. “Our team has put our hearts and souls into a multi-year effort to work with all the stakeholders in this process and bring this solution across the finish line. It feels like everyone is a winner.”
Pop-up gear eliminates the need for constant vertical lines that can entangle whales, with lines and buoys only released from the seafloor once a fisher is ready to pull the traps up. Conservation groups have pushed regulators to incentivize or mandate the use of pop-up gear as a way to reduce whale entanglements in commercial fishing gear.
Sub Sea Sonics and Guardian Ropeless have been working with California regulators on a pilot spring fishery, which enabled a small number of commercial fishers to harvest Dungeness crab in the spring with pop-up gear after the regular season had closed. That testing has shown positive results for participants, with Sub Sea Sonics/Guardian Ropeless gear being recovered 1,163 times in 2025 for a 98 percent reliability rate. The pilot fishery saw more than 217,000 pounds of crab harvested last year for an estimated value of USD 1.4 million (EUR 1.2 million).
“The California Department of Fish and Wildlife appreciates the hard work and many years of testing that laid the foundation to authorize this gear,” CDFW Marine Region Manager Craig Shuman said in a release. “We look forward to working with the fleet and gear manufacturers to continue to innovate so we can maximize fishing opportunities for California’s hardworking fleet while minimizing entanglement risk.”
In a press release, conservation nonprofit Oceana praised California regulators and pilot participants in using pop-up gear.
“This is a great day for whales and the Dungeness crab fishery in California,” Oceana California Campaign Director Geoff Shester said in a release. “We commend the crabbers who took the initiative to make this possible along with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, gear developers, enforcement officers, the Ocean Protection Council, and everyone else who came together to support the effort. Authorizing pop-up gear is a huge step toward ensuring fishermen can catch more crab without worrying about entangling a whale and consumers can enjoy that crab caught during the spring knowing that it is whale-safe. It’s also a great example of the power of innovation, courtesy of gear developers like Sub Sea Sonics and Guardian Ropeless, as well as the many fishermen who tested and advanced this new fishing method. This proves how much we can accomplish when we collaborate to keep our fisheries strong and ensure cherished ocean wildlife – like endangered humpback whales – can thrive. We encourage other states to follow California’s lead in allowing this new whale-safe technology.”
