California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is seeking an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) for the commercial Dungeness crab fishery under Section 10 of the federal Endangered Species Act. As part of this process, CDFW has developed several drafts of the proposed Conservation Plan (CP) which describes a comprehensive strategy to avoid, monitor, and minimize impacts of humpback whale, blue whale and leatherback sea turtle entanglements in California commercial Dungeness crab fishing gear.
CDFW has released two public drafts of the CP that incorporated public input as appropriate. On January 26, 2024, CDFW submitted a revised draft CP to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) requesting a final courtesy review and completeness check. This is being done prior to formal submission of the CP as part of the ITP application process to ensure all elements required have been included.
CDFW has posted this draft to the Whale Safe Fisheries webpage as a courtesy and is not accepting additional public comments at this time. Previous drafts of the CP are available on the Whales Safe Fisheries webpage as well. CDFW is preparing to submit the final draft CP to NMFS in early 2024. Upon acceptance of the ITP application, NMFS will initiate a public review process under the federal Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act, which will include opportunities for public comment.
Please direct any questions to whalesafefisheries@wildlife.ca.gov.