Crabbing FYI:

Assembly Bill 534 was introduced to the CA State Assembly in February 2021 that, if passed, would mandate the use of ropeless crab pots ONLY for both commercial and recreational crabbing by 2025. This bill actually covers other types of trap/pot fisheries, such as shrimp. Ropeless pots are being developed as a means to reduce whale entanglements, but the technology has a lot of issues as far as costs, reliability and feasibility of use. For example, a ropeless crab pot currently costs about $2,500. You would also need to purchase a suite of electronic devices to activate your pots for retrieval and also for locating previously set gear so you don't set your pots on top of someone else's ropeless gear. To be clear, "ropeless" pots actually have ropes and buoys, but they're bundled on the pot and then theoretically released by the owner when electronically activated for retrieval. The bill's language is unclear if crab rings would also be illegal by 2025, but this gear does have a static rope and buoy running from the trap to the water's surface. HASA is submitting a letter in opposition to AB-534 and I would encourage anyone who participates in recreational crabbing to read the attached bill and consider writing a brief letter to Assembly members Jim Wood and Rob Bonta (he introduced the bill). Or call their offices and voice your opinion. It wouldn't hurt to mention that either you're a HASA member and/or that you support the letter submitted by HASA. I will see about posting the HASA letter to this post.

Ross Taylor and Larry DeRidder, HASA Board Members

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB534

Here is some language to use if you would like to send a letter to the Assembly

Assembly Member Rob Bonta
State Capital, PO Box 924849
Sacramento CA, 94249-0018

RE: Opposition to Assembly Bill 534 – Ropeless Fishing Gear.

Dear Assembly Member Bonta:

I would like to voice my opposition to AB-534, regarding amendments to Fish and Game Code Sections 9005 and 9006, and the addition of Section 5524, as related to fishing with ropeless gear in commercial and recreational trap fisheries.

I do support the primary objective of reducing whale entanglements caused by active and derelict fishing gear off our coast. However, as someone who sport crabs only a few times per year, the projected cost of converting to even a single ropeless crab pot would be in the neighborhood of $2,000. Compare that to the cost of around $125 for a recreational crab pot with a static line and buoy. Demanding that sport fishers convert to such expensive gear would make future participation in this activity economically impossible. I am also concerned about how ropeless gear would be effectively used by sport crabbers in a way that prevents pots from being set on top of one another. Resulting tangles of gear would lead to more derelict crab gear and probably more entanglements.           

It seems unreasonable to push for substantial new legislation and consumer costs when the ink is barely dry on the current CDFW regulations to reduce whale entanglements. I believe that we should allow five to ten years to pass and then we’ll have the data to evaluate the effectiveness of our current entanglement prevention measures. If entanglement remains a substantial concern at that time we can revisit the issue at that time.