Crab season concluding in San Mateo County

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife chose to cancel the remainder of commercial Dungeness crab season from Pigeon Point to the U.S./Mexico border beginning April 15, because of the entanglement risks to migrating humpback whales. 

In areas with less whale entanglement risk — from Pigeon Point to the California/Oregon state line — a 30-fathom depth restriction will be implemented, meaning fishers won’t be able to use traps in deeper waters. 

There were mixed options on whether that option will be worth it, said Tim Obert, a commercial fisher who sits on a number of advisory boards. 

“With opportunity comes risk. It’s a risk-reward situation. Some fishermen will obviously say the risk is too high for a small reward,” he said. “You talk to 20-30 other guys who are needing to come up with their mortgage.” 

The crabbing season got off to a late start this year, beginning in January and forgoing the holiday season that often brings fishers their largest revenue. Trap restrictions of 50% have also been in place in San Mateo County and much of the state. 

But regardless of state-imposed restrictions, the crab population has been meager, Pruett said. 

“They weren’t getting crabs in the pot,” he said. “It wasn’t the number of crab pots, the crab pots weren’t full. Instead of getting 10-12, they were getting one to two.” 

Obert expressed a similar sentiment, noting that even this year’s higher crab prices couldn’t offset the lack of adult populations. His boat made 75% of what it did last year fishing in the San Francisco Bay, which was better than a majority of fishers he spoke with, who only made around 50% of last year’s haul, Obert said. 

“It kind of remained the same dismal look throughout,” he said. “It got worse as the season progressed.” 

More bad news is likely on the horizon for California fishers, who don’t have high hopes for this years’ salmon season, either. Salmon fisheries were closed for two consecutive years in a row in 2023 and 2024, and forecast numbers for 2025 are lower than both those seasons, the CDFW said previously.