California opens recreational Dungeness crab season, with a caveat

(CN) — The recreational Dungeness crab season is returning next month to California, with restrictions.

The recreational season will start Nov. 1, except for a portion of Northern California waters. Health agencies say crabs in that area have unhealthy levels of domoic acid. That led the state Department of Fish and Wildlife on Friday to delay the season from the Oregon border down to Sonoma, California, while opening it for the remainder of the Golden State.

The delay will remain in effect until the department receives information that the health threat no longer exists.

Domoic acid can collect in shellfish without the creature growing ill. In small amounts, it can cause nausea and dizziness in humans. Higher levels can lead to memory loss, seizures and sometimes death, the department said.

In addition to the northernmost closure, the state advised people to avoid eating crab viscera, or internal organs, if taken from waters between Point Reyes and Mendocino, just northwest of San Francisco. The state again cited the potential of domoic acid exposure.

Pointing to humpback whale activity, the department said it’s restricting crab traps between Lopez Point in Monterey County up to Mendocino.

However, the department noted that other recreational traps like hoop nets and crab snares aren’t prohibited in the restricted area.

California also has issued a fleet advisory for the entire coast. Crabbers should avoid placing gear in spots with whale activity. Hoop nets can’t be unattended for over two hours.

The state’s waters extend three nautical miles from the coast.

Citing numerous entanglements this year, the department on Friday also announced the delay of the commercial Dungeness crab season. The delay is expected to give whales and sea turtles enough time to leave state waters before officials opt to open the commercial season.

Bonham in his Friday decision to keep the commercial season closed noted a series of whale sightings. In mid-September, aerial surveys saw 42 humpback whales and two sea turtles in the waters between Point Reyes and Lopez Point. An Oct. 6 vessel survey observed 20 humpback whales in California’s southernmost waters. Days later, on Oct. 11, vessel surveys spotted 11 blue whales up north.

“Another year of a delayed commercial Dungeness crab season is incredibly difficult for our fleet and port communities,” said Lisa Damrosch, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Association, in a statement. “However, given the current risk assessment process, the commercial fleet supported this outcome as the most practical path forward.”

Ben Grundy, oceans campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity, also supported the state’s move to delay the commercial season.

“Commercial Dungeness crab fishing would be too much of a threat to the whales and sea turtles off our coast right now, so delaying the season is the right move,” Grundy said in a statement. “These animals are being forced to adapt to the changing ocean and a growing Pacific marine heat wave, while dodging mazes of dangerous fishing gear and deadly fast-moving ships.”

The department conducts periodic risk assessments to determine when the crabbing season could begin. The next assessment is scheduled for mid-December, with the possibility of the commercial season starting around the new year.