Speaking of crab, a lawsuit will close the commercial Dungeness season early, in April, and change the way the commercial guys fish in the future. Here's the press release, but don't gloat too much; we're next.
Entanglement Settlement Protects Whales, Sea Turtles and California’s Crab Fishery
SAN FRANCISCO — Californians will be pleased to know that Dungeness crab will be caught off the coast with greater care for endangered wildlife under a settlement announced by the Center for Biological Diversity, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA).
The legal settlement protects whales and sea turtles from entanglement in commercial Dungeness crab gear. The Center for Biological Diversity sued CDFW in October 2017 after a drastic increase in the number of whale entanglements off the West Coast.
“As I’ve said many times, no one wants whale entanglements to happen,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “This agreement represents hours of intense negotiation to help ensure they don’t happen while supporting the resiliency of the crab fishery in the long run. I am thankful for the leadership of the Center for Biological Diversity and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations who realized something needed to be done together.”
“This is great news for whales and sea turtles fighting extinction off California’s coast,” said Kristen Monsell, a Center for Biological Diversity attorney. “The settlement will reduce serious threats from crab gear to these beautiful and highly endangered animals. This agreement is a turning point that gets us closer to zero entanglements and a healthy ocean.”
The lawsuit was brought by the Center for Biological Diversity against CDFW (Center for Biological Diversity v. Bonham) in federal court in San Francisco. The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, which represents crabbers, intervened in the lawsuit.
The settlement, subject to court approval, creates a comprehensive approach to the problem of whale entanglements. It expedites state regulation, ensures stakeholder input from the Dungeness crab Fishing Gear Working Group and formalizes a first-ever commitment by CDFW to pursue a federal permit for protecting endangered species. While these steps are executed, the settlement calls for this year’s crab season to end three months early and prescribes protective measures for future springtime fishing seasons, when the greatest number of whales are present off the California coast.
In November 2018, CDFW announced it would seek a federal permit under the Endangered Species Act to address protected species interactions with the crab fishery. Obtaining a permit and developing a conservation plan as part of that process can take years, so the settlement spells out interim protections.
“This settlement represents the path back to normality for California’s crab fishery with built-in protections for whales and crab fishing operations under the Endangered Species Act,” said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of PCFFA. “The past several years have been extraordinarily challenging for fishing families, and the actions we’re taking here are no exception. But in the end, we’re going to emerge together with a resilient, prosperous, and protective fishery that will continue to feed California and the nation.”
Details of the settlement can be found at http://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=166146.
26 comments:
I dont know about everyone else but I'm tired of these liberals. Do they forget we are the ones with guns and sharp knives.
The worst thing about it is that bait and salmon will often congregate around crab pots if your ballsie enough to risk your down riggers. Point is that they just make rules when they have no clue about what goes on at sea, besides a video someone posted.
How late in the season do the commercial crabbers usually go??
Is this going to drastically hurt them or is it just cutting off the end of the slowest part of the season?
They fish until the end, usually. Yes, it is the slowest time but it is also the most $ per crab. They wanted to close the season for two years or more but NOAA stepped up and worked a deal. NOAA may not step up for us.
Hunter, I removed your comment for verbiage. Here it is again, slightly altered."Hey "ab fisher" I'm a liberal and I own a bunch of guns and sharp knives. In fact I make knives and restore guns. And I am a freedive underwater hunter. And I read a lot about sea research, environmental studies and I have anecdotal first hand witness accounts of how drastically ocean conditions have changed over the past decades. If you are really concerned about "what goes on at sea" I'd hope you drop your conservative armor and recognize that the times are a changing and if we want a world in which we can continue to take food from the land and sea, there MUST be a reasonable degree of regulations and oversight. If not, we and all of our future families will be in trouble."
Free willy. Say hello to Tim for me.
Willy, thank you for moderating a civil forum. Sorry I dropped the F-bomb and thanks for editing my post.
But is someone using one F-word really worse than someone threatening to take up arms against "liberals"? I'd like to see "ab fish" posts edited to remove not so subtle threats of using sharp knives and guns against liberals.
Forecast looks good for Monday, no fooling.
Just a warning or caution to the rock fishing, well, all fishing crowd
a fisherman I know down south spent a week in the hospital after a rock fishing trip during the opener last month. He got poked by a rock fish like he has "a million times" then his hand got a little sore but no worries he thought. Somebody mentioned having a doctor look at the infected poke and they sent him to the hospital to which turned out to be sepsis - a life threatening condition from infection. Doc said one more day and he would have been "in a hole in the ground".
Spent nearly a week in the hospital with an antibiotic IV in his arm.
I usually don't do anything preventative but maybe use gloves? fish pliers? at least carry some antiseptic cleaner to cleanse any scrapes or pokes in the hands.
I haven’t tried this but have heard that human urine will fix it. Let us know if it works.
I think that's for jellyfish stings. Any wild critter (and most tame ones) carry lots of germs. I've caught a couple from pokes over time. Hand sanitizer couldn't hurt. And don't forget salmon blood poisoning.
It all sounds so dangerous maybe y'all should leave the ocean to me.
Salmon blood poisoning is only in dogs, I better be careful. As for some liberal or Trumper telling me how to think. Go get poked, piss definently helped the urchin spine that broke off under my finger nail. I always squeeze out some liquid from any rockfish poke. Must be something down south they are always closing down socal beaches when it rains from sewage runoff. Must be related.
Urine on jellyfish stings is a lie. Been there done that, don’t work.
Well it truly seems ab fish is the least educated troll I've encountered I awhile...And well put Willy, if an fish not only knew about species loss, warming seas, pollution, over fishing and poor management have definitely taken it's toll world round. I'm am sure ab fish doesn't pick up any trash around any water way ab fish walks near or fishes from, and most likely leaves some imprint where ever ab fish goes
Thumbs, you sound like the Buddhist that kicked me off the job site for spitting my chew on the ground. They didn't like it when I called bs. They were spitting concrete all over the earth that will be around in 1000 years.how am i troll? No one commented on trolling near crab gear. Only attacked my liberal comment. I guess it's my fault you aren't 10% of the fishermen that catch 90% of the fish. Nope I dont pick up trash when I'm on the water but I did save Bob king's boat when he fell overboard. Why dont you go to dfw meetings and fight for your beliefs like I do?
Yo an fish did Bob leave you his boat in his will or what. Mariners law.
Ya know, some folks say that fishin' on a Sunday's a sin
I don’t believe in that though…
If a fish bites my line on a Sunday, I'm gonna reel 'im on in. (haha)
I Believe I'll take 'em on home, fry 'em up good an' have a ball....
‘Cause I don't see nothin wrong with fishin’ on Sunday at all. (haha)
Hey ab fish, You're making sense, and these liberals sound like idiots.
Hurry up and finish your pissing match because it's almost time to go fishing
Last chance for Nantucket sleigh rides, hold fast mateys!
I've been stuck in this igloo on top of Donner for too long! bring on the fishing season. As far as snow pack goes there should be enough run off for the fall salmon run this year, that is if it ever stops snowing. Googan on the mountain out.
PS AB FISh
I did get a couple Pacific's out deep last year. Not bad for a Mountain man. This year it's the swordfish I'm going find right off Cordell.
Eminent danger.ab fish?
Time for a naval blockade of the golden gate to keep the Chinese ships out of our waters, they kill more whales than any crab pots.
FIND FISHES UNDER WATER THROUGH SOUND WAVES
it's a shop for fishing tackle
It seems illogical that someone who fishes for salmon (ab fish) is "tired of these liberals." Various Republican lawmakers have repeatedly tried to weaken environmental laws that protect salmon habitat.
Well said Alastair. But what would be really nice would be if people like ab fish kept to posting helpful info to the forum/community of fishermen rather than stir things up by threatening liberals, tossing politics into the mix and making stupid "I'm so superior than you" statements . Shut up and fish fool!
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