California Dungeness Crab Pot Fishery - MMPA List of Fisheries

U.S. fisheries are classified under the Marine Mammal Protection Act according to the level of interactions that result in incidental mortality or serious injury of marine mammals.

West Coast

Current Classification on the List of Fisheries

Category	II
Estimated Number of Participants	471
Target Species	Dungeness crab
Applicable Take Reduction Plans	N/A
Observer Coverage	None
Marine Mammal Species/Stocks Killed or Injured	Blue whale, Eastern North Pacific¹; Gray whale, Eastern North Pacific; Humpback whale, CA/OR/WA¹; Killer whale, Eastern North Pacific GOA, BSAI transient; Killer whale, West Coast transient; Northern elephant seal, CA breeding

^ Number of participants estimates are based on state and federal fisheries permit data. The estimated number of participants is expressed in terms of the number of active participants in the fishery, when possible. If this information is not available, the estimated number of vessels or persons licensed for a particular fishery is provided. If no recent information is available on the number of participants, then the number from the most recent LOF is used. NOAA Fisheries acknowledges that, in some cases, these estimations may be inflating actual effort.

*Observer coverage levels include the latest information reported in the most current final Stock Assessment Report (SAR).

¹ Indicates the stock or species is driving the classification of the fishery.

Basis for Current Classification

The total annual mortality and serious injury of humpback whale (CA/OR/WA stock) is more than 1% and less than 50% of the stock's Potential Biological Removal (PBR) level.

Distribution

This fishery operates along the central and northern coastal waters of California (CA) in depths typically ranging from 10–40 fathoms, although effort occurs out to 100 fm. The fishery is divided into two management areas. The central region south of the Mendocino-Sonoma county line can be open from November 15–June 30. The northern region (north of the Mendocino-Sonoma county line) can open on December 1, and can continue until July 15. Issues such as crab quality, domoic acid, and whale entanglement risk can influence the opening and closing dates each season.

Gear Description

The cylindrical or rectangular pots used in the fishery are fished individually. A trap limit program has been implemented with seven tiers that range from allowances of up to 500 traps down to 175 traps that may be operated by a permit holder at one time. No more than two trailer buoys and one end marker buoy (smaller than 5 inches in diameter and no more than 3 feet behind the last trailer buoy) can be used. The distance between the front end of the main buoy to the tail end of the last trailer buoy is limited to 24 feet for traps set in depths less than 35 fathoms, and limited to 36 feet for traps set in depths greater than 35 fathoms. Buoys must include a buoy tag with the fisherman’s license number.

Management

This is a limited entry fishery managed by the State of CA consistent with the Tri-State Committee agreement for Dungeness crab, which also includes the states of Oregon and Washington. There is also a California Dungeness Crab Task Force, created in 2009, consisting of industry advisors that review and recommend management measures to the CA State Legislature. In addition to the two primary management zones, the coast is divided into 7 Fishing Zones for the purposes of managing whale and sea turtle entanglement risk by California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) under their Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP). These regulations give the Director of CDFW, in consultation with an advisory Working Group of stakeholders, the ability to manage the fishery through a variety of options in response to elevated entanglement risk for ESA-listed humpback and blue whales, along with leatherback sea turtles. While participating in the fishery, vessels must submit bi-weekly reports to CDFW on their fishing activities. Any fish can be taken incidentally with traps provided that regulations are followed concerning individual catch. Rock crab permits are required to keep rock crab while crabs not belonging to the genus Cancer sp. are also allowed to be taken incidentally, but are subject to limited amounts.

Historical Information

Original Category (Year added to the LOF)	III (1996)
Original Number of Participants	1,475
Basis for Original Classification	Listed as Category III because there was no observer, logbook, or stranding data available.
Past Names	WA/OR/CA crab pot (until 2009)
Species/stocks historically documented as killed or injured (but not currently on the list)	N/A

Timeline of Changes

2023	Added Northern elephant seal, CA breeding.
2022	Estimated number of participants was updated from 501 to 471.
2021	Added killer whale (Eastern North Pacific GOA, BSAI transient) and killer whale (West Coast transient).
2020	Estimated number of participants was updated from 570 to 501.
2019	Added blue whale, Eastern North Pacific and added a superscript “1” indicating that serious injury or mortality of this stock in this fishery is driving the Category II classification of this fishery.
2014	Estimated number of participants was updated from 534 to 570.
2011	Removed the superscript “2” after the fishery and added a superscript “1” after humpback whale (CA/OR/WA stock) in the list of species/stocks killed/injured in this fishery (indicating that serious injury or mortality of this stock in this fishery is driving the Category II classification of this fishery). In 2008, NOAA Fisheries received two reports of humpback whales entangled in, and seriously injured by, pot/trap fishing gear off the coast of California. NOAA Fisheries determined that one humpback whale was entangled and seriously injured in “CA Dungeness crab pot” fishery gear off of Moss Landing. One serious injury or mortality of a humpback whale (CA/OR/WA stock) results in an annual mortality and serious injury rate of 0.2 animals per year (when averaged over five years) or 1.7 percent of the stock’s PBR of 11.3. Therefore, this fishery is now classified based upon the level of serious injury or mortality of humpback whales (CA/OR/WA stock) rather than by analogy. Estimated number of participants was updated from 625 to 534.
2009	Split from the Category III “WA/OR/CA crab pot” fishery and listed as a separate Category II fishery by analogy to other Category II west coast trap/pot fisheries. Two reported humpback whale serious injury entanglements (one in August 2005 off the Channel Islands, CA, and one in December, 2005, off San Francisco, CA) could not be identified to a specific type of pot or trap fishery by gear type. The CA Dungeness crab pot fishery operates with similar gear as that observed and in the same location as the confirmed humpback whale serious injury events. Therefore, NOAA Fisheries categorized the ‘‘CA Dungeness crab pot” fishery as a Category II fishery by analogy to the Category II “CA spot prawn” fishery. This fishery has 625 participants. Added a superscript “2” after this fishery in Table 2, indicating that the fishery is classified by analogy. Added the following species/stocks to the list of species/stocks incidentally killed/injured in this fishery: Humpback whales (WA/OR/CA stock): Based on two serious injury entanglement events from 2002-2006 that could not be identified to a pot or trap fishery by gear type. This fishery operates with similar gear in the same location as the confirmed humpback whale serious injury events. Gray whales (Eastern North Pacific stock): Entanglements of gray whales in trap and pot gear have been reported; however, NOAA Fisheries had not yet determined which specific fisheries were involved. Gray whales were added to the list of species/stocks killed or injured in the Category III “WA/OR/CA crab pot” (from which this fishery is split) in 2005; therefore, it remained listed under this separate fishery. Data related to interactions with gray whales and the newly categorized Category II trap and pot fisheries will be reviewed and discussed in future LOFs.
Changes on the LOF when the “CA Dungeness crab pot” fishery was included in the larger “WA/OR/CA crab pot” fishery
2007	Added humpback whale (Eastern North Pacific) to the list of species/stocks killed/injured in this fishery based on 14 sightings of humpback whales entangled in trap (11 cases) or pot (3 cases) gear between 2000 and 2005. Data was insufficient to warrant elevation to Category II for the 2007 LOF, but NOAA Fisheries stated its intent to monitor trap/pot interactions with large whales on the west coast and revisit classification in future LOFs, if warranted.
2005	Added gray whales (Eastern North Pacific) to the list of species/stocks killed/injured in this fishery because of an interaction documented by the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program and NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement.