California crab fishing experiment participants thrilled with new innovations

“Basically, it ends up being a boutique fishery just for them,” said Ogg, who has spent years experimenting with gear innovations and working on a state task force to preserve crab fisheries while reducing injuries to whales. “When you have guys out there making money and others sitting on the dock, it divides the fleet.”

Little, who fishes in San Francisco and has become a major advocate for pop-up tackle, said the resulting distrust has led to intimidation and ostracism from those eager to try the gear, leading to fears of vandalism to their gear. That may be why some of the seven captains who fish Bodega Bay and were contacted for this story have not returned calls.

“The people who oppose it,” Little said, “are really worried that it’s a bad thing for fishing — that it’s going to ruin their lives.” The problem, he said, is that “there’s no way to overcome it without adapting.”

Industry in danger

The study results come as the state continues to refine management of the fishery, which once accounted for more than $60 million a year in landings along the coast. Every November, commercial crab fishermen would set out en masse for the season that began Nov. 15 to harvest as much as possible for the critical holiday period from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day. Many continued fishing through the winter and spring until the season ended on June 30.

But a toxic algal bloom that contaminated ocean crabs delayed the 2015-16 season by more than four months, meaning that much more gear was deployed later in the season when the whales were feeding in the fishery. The resulting spike in whale entanglements prompted a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity under the Endangered Species Act, prompting major changes to how the fishery is managed.

After a very small trial of pop-up gear in 2023, this year’s experiment saw participants using 150 traps in lines of 10 tied together on the ocean floor. They attached an acoustically activated pop-up device to one or both ends, which released a buoy, allowed them to locate the traps and begin reeling them in. All the gear locations were entered into an app, so each captain knew where the other gear was deployed. It also allowed fish and wildlife law enforcement to monitor their deployment.

Participants, some of whom were initially on a waiting list, spent about $15,000 each on the new technology they needed to participate. Most, if not all, recouped their investment on the first day of fishing, said Bart Chadwick, who has a doctorate in oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and developed the acoustic equipment and received permission to use it experimentally.

Some traps were lost and left in the ocean — in one case after being set close to shore and apparently covered with sand. In the other case, the traps simply weren’t where they were supposed to be, perhaps being dragged away by a trawler, Chadwick said.

Some of the extra gear was left behind by a fishing crew whose vessel broke down. Little said he is in line to retrieve it.

This adds up to an equipment loss rate of 1.5%, which is half of the estimated statewide loss rate of 3%, although this rate varies significantly from year to year and is difficult to calculate.

Ogg et al, however, expressed considerable distrust of the results presented, suggesting that they had heard of errors beyond those reported by participants.

The resolution is to overthrow it

Little said he agreed to test the on-demand technology two years ago because he was certain it wouldn’t work and “set out to take it down.”

He participated in a smaller test in 2023, and this year he was joined by 18 other captains, all of whom he trained under a protocol authorized by an experimental permit granted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

He said while those accustomed to repetitively hauling and deploying traditional crab traps during long fishing days in sometimes inclement weather have to learn how to do it, practice with the new system eventually makes it “second nature.”

“Dungeness crab fishing,” Melz said, “is the flagship fishery in California, and it was taken away from us because of interactions with whales. So when an opportunity came up that could allow us to fish in the spring, I didn’t let anyone else come out and test the gear and tell me what they thought of it. I wanted to see it for myself. I wanted to put it through its paces.”

“If I had the opportunity to fish both standard tackle and pop-up gear in the spring, I would take pop-up gear with me every day of the week,” Melz said.

You can reach reporter Mary Callahan (she/her) at 707-521-5249 or [email protected]. X (Twitter) @MaryCallahanB.