MENDOCINO Co., 4/7/22 — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced Wednesday that commercial dungeness crab fishing season will close early, at noon on April 20, due to reports of humpback whale entanglements in crab lines. The April 20 closure affects Mendocino and Humboldt counties in (Fishing Zones 1 and 2) from the Sonoma County line to the Oregon border. Fishing Zones 3, 4, 5 and 6 close at noon on Friday, April 8.
“We received reports of additional humpback whale entanglements and moved quickly to close the fishery to protect migrating humpback whales that are just starting to return to California waters,” CDFW Director Charlton Bonham wrote in a press release. “While this poses an economic impact on certain sectors of our coastal fishing communities, it is important to protect both whales and the long-term viability of the commercial fishery. We will be working with the fishing fleet, researchers and other agencies to better understand these recent entanglement events and find ways to mitigate this risk in future seasons.”
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