California Spot Prawn 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	22
Target Species	Spot prawn
Applicable Take Reduction Plans	N/A
Observer Coverage	None
Marine Mammal Species/Stocks Killed or Injured	Gray whale, Eastern North Pacific; Humpback whale, Central America/Southern Mexico-CA/OR/WA¹; Humpback whale, Mainland Mexico-CA/OR/WA; Long-beaked common dolphin, CA

^ 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 mean annual mortality and serious injury of humpback whales (Central America/Southern Mexico-CA/OR/WA stock) is greater than 1% and less than 50% of the stock’s Potential Biological Removal (PBR) level.

Distribution

This fishery targets spot prawn operating from Central CA southward to the Mexican border. The fishery is divided into two regions: North of Point Arguello, which is open from August 1–April 30; and south of Point Arguello, which runs from February 1–October 30. Fishing is concentrated around submarine canyons.

Gear Description

The traps can be tapered and circular in shape, with a 7/8-inch square cord mesh over a steel frame, or molded plastic, 39" in diameter and 16" tall. Traps may also be rectangular in shape, measuring about 12 – 14'’ tall and 2x2' or 2x3’ wide and deep. The entrance tunnels must be between 1.5 and 3 inches at the widest point, and there must be a destructive device to ensure trapped organisms can escape if the gear is lost. Strings of 10–50 oblong cylindrical traps attached to a common groundline are commonly fished at depths between 100 and 150 fathoms. Regulation prohibits fishing in depths less than 50 fathoms. Both ends of the line are weighted and marked with a polyball or flagpole. Spot prawn buoys, generally large polyballs, must be marked with the owner's commercial fishing license identification number followed by the letter “S”.

Management

This is a limited access fishery managed by the State of California. A tiered permit system has been implemented allowing a maximum of 150 (Tier 2) or 500 (Tiers 1 and 3) traps to be fished at one time depending on the fishing history associated with the permit. A maximum of 300 traps may be located within state waters (inside 3 miles) if fishing north of Point Arguello to the California/Oregon border, regardless of permit tier. Trap logbooks are requested for every day of fishing.

Historical Information

Original Category (Year added to the LOF)	III (1996)
Original Number of Participants	603
Basis for Original Classification	This fishery was classified as Category III because, while there were reports to the CA stranding network of gray whale entanglements in lobster pot gear, the entanglements did not appear to result in mortalities. There were no reported entanglements of other stocks.
Past Names	CA lobster, prawn, shrimp, rock crab, and fish pot (until 2009)
Species/stocks historically documented as killed or injured (but not currently on the list)	N/A

Timeline of Changes

2024	Revised marine mammal stock names on the list of species/stocks incidentally killed or injured as follows: Humpback whale, CA/OR/WA to humpback whale, Central America/Southern Mexico-CA/OR/WA and humpback whale, Mainland Mexico-CA/OR/WA stock. Added the superscript “1” to the Central America/Southern Mexico - CA/OR/WA stock of humpback whale to indicate the stock is driving the Category II classification.
2022	Estimated number of participants updated from 23 to 22.
2020	Added Long-beaked common dolphin (CA). Estimated number of participants updated from 25 to 23.
2016	Estimated number of participants updated from 28 to 25.
2014	Estimated number of participants reduced from 27 to 28.
2011	Estimated number of participants reduced from 29 to 27.
2009	Split from the Category III “CA lobster, prawn, shrimp, rock crab, and fish pot” fishery and listed as a separate Category II fishery based on mortality and serious injury of humpback whales (WA/OR/CA). A humpback whale was entangled and serious injured in spot prawn pot gear in 2005. This single humpback whale interaction equaled a mean annual mortality and serious injury level of 0.2 animals/year, or 8% of the stock’s PBR (PBR=2.5). This fishery has 29 participants. 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 a serious injury entanglement event in 2005. A superscript “1” listed after this stock to indicate that takes of this stock are driving the classification of the fishery. 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 “CA lobster, prawn, shrimp, rock crab, and fish pot” (from which this fishery is split) in 2007; 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 spot prawn pot” fishery was included in the larger “CA lobster, prawn, shrimp, rock crab, and fish pot” fishery
2007	Added humpback whale (Eastern north Pacific), gray whale (Eastern north Pacific), and harbor seal (CA) to the list of species/stocks killed/injured in this fishery based on 14 sightings of entangled trap (11 cases) or pot (3 cases) gear between 2000 and 2005. Also, the stranding database recorded a dead gray whale and a harbor seal entangled in pot or trap gear. 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.
1999	Added southern sea otter (CA) added to species/stocks killed/injured in this fishery based on fisher reports of 4 otters taken in 1992.

Last updated by Office of Protected Resources on 02/27/2024

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