Will there be crab for Christmas? Season delayed again due to whales, entanglement risk

Northern California’s Dungeness crab season has been delayed once again, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced this week.

The commercial Dungeness crab season in the northern management area was set to begin Dec. 1 but was previously delayed until at least Dec. 16 due to low quality crab meat, the department said in a press release. In the central management area, wildlife officials put off the season because of whales and the potential for entanglement.

Because the northern management area, which run from Point Arena north, had previously delayed, the CDFW focused on the central management area, which spans the waters off Santa Barbara to Sonoma County, in their partnership with researchers, federal agencies and the fishing industry.

In five aerial surveys, more than 10 vessel-based surveys and a observations from a network across three national marine sanctuaries, the agency found that whales remain in the fishing grounds.

CDFW staff and collaborators are planning more surveys in the next few weeks to reassess whale presence.

“Our hope is both quality testing and additional marine life survey data will support a unified statewide opener on Dec. 16, just in time to have crab for the holidays and New Year,” the release said.

When the data shows the whales have left the fishing grounds, “CDFW stands ready to open the commercial season,” the release said.

This story was originally published November 26, 2020 at 11:14 AM.