The commercial Dungeness crab season has been cut short for most of California for a fifth successive year in an effort to reduce potentially fatal whale entanglements in fishing gear.
State Fish and Wildlife Director Chuck Bonham announced Thursday that all crab pots and vertical lines must be removed from the ocean south of Point Arena by April 15 — 2½ months before the commercial season’s traditional June 30 close. The season also started six weeks late, with crews allowed to put only 50% of their gear in the water at first.
