Whale-safe pop-up gear could bring crab back to Monterey Bay markets

By Zoe Hunt

Click here for updates on this story

    MONTEREY, Calif. (KSBW) — Pop-up fishing gear is one step closer to becoming available to local crab fishermen.

“We hope to see Monterey Bay fishermen really get back out on the water and keep bringing in crab in a way that’s whale-safe,” said Geoff Shester with Oceana.

In recent years, Monterey Bay has seen the Dungeness crab fishing season closed down or shortened due to the risk of whale entanglements in fishing ropes. The closures have put a financial burden on local fishermen.

“We’ve lost a good number of fishermen who have either retired or stopped fishing and taken land jobs,” said Gasper Catanzaro with Monterey Fish Co.

The pop-up gear is designed to keep whales safe while letting fishermen get back on the water.

“The way the pop-up gear works is all of the lines and buoys stay down with the trap. The fisherman is actually able to push a button on their tablet, see everyone else’s gear as well, and then retrieve the gear,” Shester said. “So, it pops up.”

Shester said Oceana’s most recent trial for the gear was their most successful yet; it brought in $1.4 million worth of crab this past spring.

“We were able to get out on a fishing boat, and every time it popped up, all the fishermen yelled, ‘Science!’” Shester said.

With recent crabbing season closures, it has been pretty rare for locals to get their hands on freshly caught crab from Monterey Bay.

The hope is that this gear will help bring fresh crab caught from local waters back into fish markets and onto people’s plates.

“When Monterey Fish gets the local crab from here, we have cars lining down the Wharf,” said Dominic Villarreal with Monterey Abalone Company.

Oceana said they are hoping the Department of Fish and Wildlife will authorize the gear to be used by crab fishermen with commercial fishing licenses by spring.

“We should be able to see local crab next spring really come back to our markets when normally you wouldn’t be able to get it,” Shester said.

Monterey Fish Co. said one of their fishermen wants to try out the gear if it gets approved.

“He already told me that if he gets the opportunity, he will try it out and use it,” Catanzaro said.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.