Dungeness crab fisheries along the California coast shut down on Monday to prevent deadly whale entanglements.
Dr. Geoff Shester, a senior scientist at Oceana, told KNX News’ Nataly Tavidian that it is important that people understand the consequences of whale entanglements.
“The fishery has been closing early for the last several years, largely due to the recognition and the collaboration that's happened across fishermen, managers and conservation groups to try to prevent these entanglements,” he said. “But unfortunately, these closures have not happened early enough and we've still had numbers that are really so, so high that they actually could be limiting and preventing the recovery of these endangered populations of whales.”
The closures impact fisheries along the Southern and Central Coasts of California.He added that he hopes the state does early season closures at fisheries further north too as well, as there are still too many deadly entanglements.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife map of Dungeness crab fishing zones can be viewed here.
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