The start of the commercial Dungeness crab season in the Bay Area is delayed until at least Dec. 1 to reduce the risk of migrating humpback whales becoming entangled in trap lines. This is the sixth year in a row the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has imposed restrictions to prevent fishermen from ensnaring whales. Even as more humpbacks feed along the coast thanks to growing food sources, trap restrictions have reduced entanglements, and they will remain in place until whales have mostly departed the area. Fishermen say they expect to see more delays. “I saw 20 whales at Stinson today alone,” said Nick Krieger, a former Bolinas crabber who moved to Tam Valley to operate out of San Francisco Bay. “We’re coming from a place of wanting to be cautious about it, but we’re hoping to get some Christmas crab.” Recreational crabbers in Marin’s fishing zone can begin their season on Nov. 4, but only with hoop nets and crab snares, which require the operator to be present. Fish and Wildlife director Charlton Bonham said the department would continue to monitor whale presence. “Large aggregations of humpback whales continue to forage between Bodega Bay and Monterey and allowing the use of crab traps would increase the risk of an entanglement in those fishing zones,” he said in a press release. “We will continue to work with both the recreational and commercial Dungeness crab fisheries to protect whales while working to maximize the fishing opportunity.” The news came as no surprise to many in the industry. Willy Vogler, co-owner of Lawson’s Landing campground in Dillon Beach and publisher of a fishing blog, returned from a fishing trip on Monday. “It didn’t look good,” he told the Light. “I don’t even know how many whales we saw out there but it was a lot, and they were all feeding on a huge mass of anchovies. There were almost as many whales as anchovies. Unless something changes to make the anchovies go away, I don’t anticipate Dec. 1 being a go.” An estimated 4,900 humpback whales migrate along the West Coast, a number that is steadily increasing, according to a 2021 report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Scientists say the trend reflects changing forage conditions. Significant marine heatwaves between 2014 and 2016 resulted in a decline in offshore krill populations. At the same time, natural boom-and-bust cycles combined with warmer temperatures led to an abundance of anchovies, which are closer to shore. This resulted in increased interactions with fishermen. According to NOAA, the crab pot and trap fishery is the most frequently documented source of serious injury and mortality for humpback whales in West Coast waters. But that number has shrunk each year since 2015, when there were dozens. Last season, there were just three documented entanglements linked to commercial crab traps in California. Commercial crabbing opened last year on New Year’s Eve and closed in mid-April, but Bolinas’s four fishermen—Todd Beeson, Robbie Knowles and Don and Mickey Murch—were waylaid by intense storms and challenging tides. Mickey Murch said the season lasted less than two months. “We say that by late February, you’re scratching. You might get one or two keepers and you’re throwing back dozens of females or crabs that are too small,” he said. “It almost makes it not worth it to fish. The more it’s pushed back, the less crabbing we do.” The state will conduct another risk assessment by Nov. 17, but Mr. Krieger, who represents San Francisco on the state’s Dungeness crab task force, said the department and fishermen are hoping for a Dec. 15 opening.