A new partnership of marine scientists, commercial fishermen, and conservationists aims to reduce whale entanglements in California’s Dungeness crab fishery while supporting the state’s fishing industry, a press release issued last week noted.
The Dungeness Crab and Whale Conservation Collaborative, announced by The Marine Mammal Center, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and The Nature Conservancy, is backed by a three-year grant from the Clean Break Fund.
The initiative will combine data from vessel surveys, drones, shore-based observations, underwater acoustic gliders, and satellite-based whale detections to improve understanding of whale movements and behavior.
The Marine Mammal Center will lead development of an integrated whale monitoring system, while the fishermen’s association will involve commercial fishers in vessel surveys and entanglement investigations, according to the organization.
Meanwhile, The Nature Conservancy will help expand whale monitoring, advance fishing gear recovery technology, and improve the data systems used to guide fishery management.
The collaboration will share its findings with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and other partners to inform the state’s Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program, which helps manage whale entanglement risks, the organization said.
Organizers said the effort aims to improve decisions about fishing activity by providing more timely information on whale presence, helping protect marine mammals while supporting fishing communities and sustainable Dungeness crab fishery.
Additional partners include Cascadia Research Collective, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and Point Blue Conservation Science.
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