Potential regulations for sport Dungeness crab fishery subject of Saturday meeting in Sausalito

State Fish and Wildlife staffers are hosting a meeting Saturday to discuss potential regulations for the sport Dungeness crab fishery intended to help prevent whale and sea turtle entanglements.

The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in Sausalito at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Bay Model Visitor Center, 2100 Bridgeway Blvd.

The state wildlife agency is considering new measures for recreational crabbers that could include trap limits, enhanced gear markings and new rules about how frequently fishermen and women need to check and clear their crab pots of marine life.

New provisions also could include allowances for mid-season adjustments in the event that migrating whales turn up in abundance at some point in the fishing grounds.

The overall intent is for recreational fishers to take on greater responsibility for ensuring fishing gear does not contribute to the death and injury of federally protected marine life. Commercial crabbers already are operating under stringent new measures to prevent entanglements.

A second event on the potential for new sport crabbing regulations is planned at 6 p.m., Jan. 23, in Eureka, in the Humboldt Bay Fisherman’s Marketing Association, 3 Commercial St., Eureka.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.