MENDOCINO — Beginning at noon on May 10, in Fishing Zone 1 and 2, from the Oregon state line to the Sonoma/Mendocino county line, commercial Dungeness crab fishing will be allowed in ocean waters 30 fathoms and shallower.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife completed the most recent marine life entanglement risk assessment under the Risk Assessment Mitigation Program, and recent survey data indicates humpback whales have begun to return from their winter breeding grounds to Northern California fishing grounds. Humpback and blue whales have also been sighted further offshore in central California, but primarily outside the fishing grounds.
All crabbing vessels must carry onboard an electronic monitoring system capable of recording the vessel’s location while engaged in fishing activity using GPS coordinates at a frequency of no less than once per minute during fishing operations. Electronic monitoring data must be made available to CDFW upon request for the duration of the fishing period and 60 days thereafter.
The CDFW Director will also maintain a statewide Fleet Advisory for the commercial Dungeness crab fishery for all Fishing Zones. Under the advisory, CDFW encourages the fleet to implement fishing best practices (e.g. minimizing knots, line scope) and to immediately remove all gear from ocean waters when an operator no longer intends to fish. Vessels fishing in Zones 1-4 should pay particular attention to the location of set gear and foraging whales and minimize entanglement risk by adhering to the Best Practices Guide.
CDFW will continue to monitor all available data until the next risk assessment (expected to occur on or around May 14). The fleet should be prepared to implement a change in management action which may include Fishing Zone closures in the coming weeks for all California waters.
For more information related to the risk assessment process, please visit CDFW’s Whale Safe Fisheries page or for more information on the Dungeness crab fishery, please visit www.wildlife.ca.gov/crab.
The Link LonkMay 06, 2021 at 06:05PM
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Dungeness crab fishing opens for 2021 season - Fort Bragg Advocate-News
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