A new partnership between commercial fishermen, marine conservation organizations, and scientists aims to improve whale monitoring and help inform future decisions about California’s Dungeness crab fishing season.
Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen has committed $11 million over three years through his Clean Break Fund to support the initiative, which seeks to strengthen the scientific data used to balance commercial fishing operations with whale protection. The effort brings together organizations that have often disagreed over fishery management, including the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), The Marine Mammal Center, and The Nature Conservancy.
The initiative comes as California’s commercial Dungeness crab season has increasingly been delayed into the new year and closed earlier in the spring. State regulators use the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP) to assess whale-entanglement risks associated with fishing gear and implement restrictions when specified thresholds are reached. These seasonal disruptions have created challenges for fishermen and seafood businesses that depend on a reliable crab supply, including during the important holiday market.
The funding will support expanded whale surveys, additional shore-based monitoring, and new technologies designed to improve the collection and analysis of marine mammal data. Planned projects include acoustic gliders that can detect whale movements in real time, expanded monitoring around Point Reyes and the Farallon Islands, and the continued development of artificial intelligence tools to help regulators analyze information more efficiently. Commercial fishermen will also be compensated for participating in surveys, retrieving stranded gear, and responding to entanglement incidents.
The coalition’s goal is to provide regulators with more timely and precise information to guide fishing-season decisions. Better data could help identify when and where fishing can safely occur while maintaining protections for blue, fin, and humpback whales. However, the research could also support additional restrictions if the evidence indicates that further measures are necessary to reduce entanglement risks.
The initiative follows the signing of Senate Bill 1393, which extended California’s statutory framework for assessing and mitigating whale-entanglement risks in the Dungeness crab fishery. With the regulatory framework remaining in place, the coalition is focusing on improving the information used to make management decisions rather than eliminating whale-protection requirements.
If the research supports changes to current management practices and regulators adopt them, the initiative could help establish a more predictable fishing season as early as the 2027–28 holiday season. Any changes will depend on the findings and subsequent regulatory decisions.
Why It Matters
Dungeness crab is California’s second most valuable seafood fishery, behind market squid. Seasonal delays and closures affect commercial fishing operations, processors, distributors, retailers, restaurants, and consumers. More accurate whale monitoring and stronger collaboration among industry, scientists, and conservation organizations could help improve decision-making, reduce unnecessary uncertainty, and support the long-term viability of California’s fishing communities while protecting marine wildlife.