Participants in the California recreational Dungeness Crab fishery.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (Department) Marine Region is reaching out to participants in the California recreational Dungeness Crab fishery. The Department is proposing new regulations to help minimize fishery impacts on marine life, specifically protected whales and sea turtles. Potential measures include pot limits, catch reporting, surface gear restrictions, service interval requirements, marking requirements and changes to in-season management. Traps from the fishery are known to have entangled two Humpback whales in recent years and possibly more considering the number of confirmed entanglements where the fishing gear could not be identified.

The Department will hold a live informational webinar on December 3, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. to provide background information, timeline, and present the current proposals. You can participate via this link here: https://cawildlife.webex.com/join/r7regionalmgr (You may follow the instructions on the website to join the audio portion of the webinar, or call (888) 808-6929, participant code 9961539 by phone). To view the presentation, you must join the webinar.

We encourage you to participate in the webinar to learn more about the current proposal. For questions or additional information please contact us at: WhaleSafeFisheries@wildlife.ca.gov. Additional information about the Department's efforts to prevent marine life entanglement can be found at: www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/Whale-Safe-Fisheries.