San Mateo County fishers plagued by uncertainty

The commercial Dungeness crab fishery south of the Sonoma/Mendocino County line was scheduled to open Nov. 15 but was delayed due to a high abundance of humpback whales and a number of recent entanglements, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said. 

Recreational crab season will open statewide on Nov. 2, although traps are prohibited between the Sonoma/Mendocino County line and Lopez Point, an area that includes San Mateo County. 

Hundreds of humpback whales have been spotted in coastal zone 3 alone, Ryan Bartling, an environmental scientist supervisor at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said. Unless whale gear entanglements are significantly reduced, he believes crab season will continue to be delayed to protect the humpbacks, an endangered species. 

“The future is uncertain, obviously. At the end of the day, we’ve had too many entanglements, some for certain involving commercial Dungeness crab gear. Until we can reduce those entanglements, it’s going be hard to have them overlapping,” he said. 

Opening the season is dependent on when a majority of whales move out of the fishing grounds, Bartling said, a migration that typically hasn’t been happening until mid- to late December. Last year, crabbing season opened at a 50% trap reduction Jan. 18.

Some local fishers, who’ve been beleaguered by limited crabbing seasons and total closure of salmon season for the past two years, see it differently. The whale population is increasing, they argue, and state and federal agencies are arbitrarily prioritizing their safety over the livelihoods of fishers. 

“One-hundred percent, the whales are being prioritized,” Don Marshall, the captain of the Northern Light, said. “Humans die accidentally, whales die accidentally. Nobody wants to see anything happen to whales, but we also don’t want to lose the ability to feed our families.” 

Obert is trying to stay optimistic that a compromise between state and federal entities and fishers can be broached. Currently, fishers are held accountable for gear that isn’t necessarily theirs and are dealing with constantly increasing whale populations, he said, and solutions could include line marking and prioritizing gear recovery teams. 

Ultimately, fisheries will need to be able to receive permits to go out on the water in tandem with whale populations to keep the industry alive, Obert said. 

“At some point, there’s just going to be so many animals out there we’re going to have interaction. What we need to do is figure out how we can have interaction without mortality,” he said. “We need that forgiveness as a commercial fleet. We need to keep bringing that product to the public.” 

At the same time, Obert acknowledged the continuous feelings of depression and fear amongst fishers. 

“That’s like half of my conversations with individuals in the fleet. A lot of depression and anxiety. A lot of these people have all their money tied up in their business,” he said. 

That’s the case for Marshall, who is the father of a young family. Knowing the financial burden of shortened and reduced seasons will come down on him and other operators can be overwhelming, he said, but, at this point, even selling fishing vessels and their permits would be a challenge. 

“Nobody’s dumb enough to buy them. Why would they?” he said. 

Jim Pruett, San Mateo County Harbor District manager, said that charter boat captains were excited to begin the recreational crabbing season and encouraged caution as the weather was likely to be inclement. But he, too, acknowledged how challenging recent years had been for fishers. 

It’s no surprise, he said, but it’s become a frustrating expectation. 

“It’s real hard on the fishermen this year,” Pruett said. “They closed the season early last year for crab, they had no season for salmon for a second year in a row. Crab season is a large percentage of their income.”