22-04-2025
Commercial Dungeness crab season off Bay Area coast closing to safeguard whales
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Commercial Dungeness crab fishing season is set to close off the San Francisco Bay Area coast on May 1, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced Monday.
The May 1 closure of commercial Dungeness crab fishing in Fishing Zone 3, which spans from the Sonoma-Mendocino County line to Pigeon Point in San Mateo County, comes after a marine life entanglement risk assessment under the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program (RAMP), wildlife officials said.
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Fishing Zones 1 and 2, which collectively span from the California-Oregon border down to the Sonoma-Mendocino County line, will remain open to commercial Dungeness crab fishing. Zones south of Pigeon Point closed on April 15.
The upcoming closure in Fishing Zone 3 is 'intended to minimize entanglement risk as humpback whales return to forage off the coast of California,' CDFW said.
According to aerial and vessel survey data released by CDFW, 23 humpback whales were observed in Fishing Zone 3 on April 6, and 53 were seen on April 8. The concentration of whales in the area and reports of recent whale entanglements prompted the move to shut down the commercial Dungeness crab season, according to CDFW Director Charlton Bonham.
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The next risk assessment is scheduled to take place in early May.
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