California will open its northernmost fishing zones for Dungeness crabbers Jan. 5, with closures continuing off the central and southern coasts to avoid humpback whale entanglements, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said Wednesday.

Zones 1 and 2 from the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the Oregon border can start fishing in early January, with a reassessment expected Jan. 11 on whether zones 3 to 6 to the south can be opened.

Under the state’s Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program criteria, the 2023-24 Dungeness season opening has been delayed due to whale sightings and entanglements, including one humpback reported entangled in crab gear Nov. 11 in Monterey Bay.

The fishery has been plagued by delayed season openers in recent years with high numbers of humpback whales moving through the fishing grounds. The delays disrupted the traditional West Coast holiday market for Dungeness, when the usual Nov. 15 opening would supply consumers from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day.

This year’s is the fifth annual season delay in a row. The fall 2022 opening was pushed back three times, finally opening on Dec. 31 but with a 50 percent trap reduction through January. 

The environmental group Oceana made a point Wednesday to pitch continued development and testing of on-demand or “ropeless” crab gear, to reduce entanglement with vertical buoy lines and potentially avoid season delays and closures.

“Pop-up gear can provide fishermen with additional financial opportunities in the spring by offering Californians crab caught in a way that is whale and sea turtle safe when waters may otherwise be closed to conventional crab traps,” the group said in a prepared statement Wednesday afternoon. “We commend the fishermen, enforcement officers, gear manufacturers, and fishery managers who are collaborating to scale up pop-up gear testing in the spring.”