Fisherman charged for illegal crabbing in Half Moon Bay

That day, wardens with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife while on patrol discovered about 80 buoys attached to commercial crab fishing gear that belonged to Pham. Between July 13 and 17, wardens returned to the site to retrieve the crab traps, which were covered in kelp and barnacles, indicating that they had been abandoned in the water, according to the suit. Pham was told to remove the remaining traps on July 17 when he apologized and took full responsibility for the violations, according to the suit. 

Pham’s specific violations were taking Dungeness crab out of season and failing to maintain crab traps within 96 hours. His penalties totaled $18,000 and he was also forced to pay $2,000 to the state’s fish and game preservation fund, which covers the cost of equipment and resources for CDFW. Pham is now free to fish after agreeing not to break the rules again.

The District Attorney’s Office sees about two illegal crabbing cases each year, said Deputy District Attorney Crystal Chau. Prosecutors have the option of filing a civil suit, as they did against Pham, or criminal misdemeanor charges. 

The commercial crab season has faced delays and early closures in recent years because of the risk of marine life getting entangled in the fishing gear and when domoic acid, which can cause nausea and even death, is found in the crustaceans. This year, the commercial crab season was pushed back a month due to concerns about entanglements and last year, the season was cut short by roughly two months for the same reason.