For many Californians, crab casseroles, crab cakes and crab chow are traditional holiday foods.
But the need to protect humpback whales in California's coastal waters, coupled with widespread domoic acid contamination along the North Coast, has once again slowed commercial fishing in Dungeness and parts of the recreational fishery this fall.
Eating shellfish contaminated with domoic acid can cause illness and death.
Last week, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced it was delaying the opening of commercial crab fisheries statewide until Jan. 1. The season ends on July 31st. The start was planned for November 1st.
New state regulations require fisheries to be closed if three or more humpback whales are confirmed to have become entangled in crab fishing gear during the calendar year. In 2025, four whales became entangled in commercial ropes and lines from the Dungeness crab fishery. Another four humpback whales were caught in fishing gear that officials suspected, but could not confirm, was intended for crab fishing.
Dungeness crabs are generally caught in coastal waters north of San Francisco.
In 2024, a record number of whales were caught using fishing gear in U.S. waters, with California leading the way with about 25% of the 95 confirmed incidents.
Entanglements are just one of many threats facing whales worldwide. Earlier this year, 21 gray whales died in San Francisco Bay Area waters, mostly after being struck by ships. Animals are becoming increasingly stressed by changes in food availability, shipping traffic, noise pollution, litter, disease and plastic waste, and their ability to avoid and survive these obstacles is decreasing.
A delay “is the best course of action for the fishery and the whales,” said Geoff Shester, Oceana’s California campaign manager and senior scientist. “The risk that more endangered whales could become entangled in crab fishing gear remains high, so we must now redouble our efforts.”
He said environmentalists and others are confident that shrimpers will adapt. New devices such as pop-ups, in which cages are brought to the surface using remote-controlled pop-up balloon devices rather than hauling them in with lines, appear to be on their way to federal approval.
“Another year of delayed commercial Dungeness crab season is incredibly difficult for our fleet and port communities,” Lisa Damrosch, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Assns., said in a joint statement with the Department of Fish and Wildlife. “However, given the current risk assessment process, the commercial fleet supported this outcome as the most practical path forward.”
Recreational crab fishing is scheduled to open in most areas on November 1st. Along the coastal stretch from Gualala to Crescent City, where domoic acid is widespread, crab fishing will be suspended until state health officials determine that domoic acid no longer poses a threat to public health. South of Gualala, 100 miles from Point Reyes, health officials have issued a crab warning.
This is the sixth straight year the fishery has been delayed because of entanglement problems, said Ryan Bartling, a scientist with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. In previous years, before the numerical threshold, delay was a decision.
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