California's commercial Dungeness crab season is set to open on January 5 with limits on the number of commercial traps because of the risk of humpback whale entanglements, authorities said Friday.

After years of a shortened crab fishing season aimed at preventing whale entanglements off the West Coast, California crabbers are experimenting with a new fishing method that allows them to stay on ...

Dungeness Crabs Credit: CDFW December 31, 2025 - The last area of the recreational Dungeness crab fishery in Humboldt County opened today after being delayed due to elevated levels of domoic acid.

The season will open later than its traditional start to protect whales in fishing zones off of the Bay Area coast.

Dungeness crabs are weighed at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay on the first day of the 2018 commercial season. State officials announced Friday that the final Northern California fishing zones ...

A Humpback whale swims off the coast of San Diego, California, in 2022, entangled with the lines of two commercial Dungeness crab traps. The line is deeply embedded in the flesh of the whale. (Photo ...

In response, California state regulators barred Dungeness crab fishing when whales are known to be present. That shortened the season significantly, giving fishermen a narrow window in which to make a ...