The truth about alternative gear in the Dungeness Crab Fishery

Alternative gear has received significant attention in the California Dungeness crab fishery, and there are certain times and conditions when this tool can be helpful. But it is also important to understand how it fits into the season as a whole.

The opening of the crab season and the spring fishery are incredibly different. When the season opens, the entire fleet is fishing at full speed in heavy weather, moving gear constantly and working around the clock. This is when seasons are made or lost. Every minute counts and the term “time is money” has never been more true. Boats are setting, hauling, delivering, and turning right back around to do it again. For the last 25 years, more than 90% of the crab caught each year has been harvested during the early part of the season. Alternative gear is not safe or practical at this time, but it doesn’t have to be because science has proven that whale presence is low when fishing starts.

By spring, conditions change, the whales start coming back, fewer boats are on the water, the crabs molt and feed differently, and the fishery slows down. With fewer crabs left on the grounds to catch, the price is higher than at the high-volume opening, and things shift from time being money, to money being time. More days on the water mean more opportunities for the fishermen who choose to keep fishing until the very end of the season. In this scenario, after April 1st, if the CDFW Director restricts traditional gear under RAMP due to increased entanglement risk, alternative gear can allow fishing to continue.

It is important to understand that while this is an exciting tool, it is just that, a voluntary tool for fishermen to access in certain situations, but it is not a replacement for the traditional fishery