California's spring crab season is shortened due to whale entanglement risks, but experimental pop-up traps offer a solution. Fishermen can now use remote-controlled buoys that rest on the ocean floor, reducing the chance of whale entanglement. The pilot program is expanding from 20 to 40 boats, with potential full approval next season. Oceana's Geoff Shester emphasizes the need to adapt fishing methods as changing ocean conditions make whales more vulnerable to entanglement and ship strikes, highlighting the importance of introducing new gear to protect marine life.
This year the commission really went out on a limb and authorized our full stack so we'll be able to fish 450 pots on ground lines for the pop-up program, and it's been a long time since we fished 450 pots in California, so we're excited.
So that would basically open it up so that everyone who wants to keep fishing in the springtime, even when the season's closed to conventional gear, can keep going and keep catching crab with the pop-up gear.
We can't just keep doing the same thing every year and expect the numbers to go down. There're still too many entanglements, and the state can really do more to reduce risks.
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