California has run a pilot program since 2023 to try out so-called pop-up gear to find a solution to crabbers' woes.

After years of a shortened crab fishing season aimed at preventing whale entanglements off the West Coast, California crabbers are experimenting with a new fishing method that allows them to stay on t ...

Unlike the floating vertical trap lines that can sometimes entangle migrating whales, the pop-up buoys sit on the ocean floor with the crab traps. When they're ready, fishermen release the buoys ...

No more vertical lines The gear lets fishermen use a remote-operated, acoustic release device to pop-up a crab pot from the ocean floor rather than have it tethered to a floating buoy. Pots can be ...

The gear lets fishermen use a remote-operated, acoustic release device to pop-up a crab pot from the ocean floor rather than have it tethered to a floating buoy. Pots can be strung together with ...

After years of a shortened crab fishing season aimed at preventing whale entanglements off the West Coast, California crabbers are experimenting with a new fishing method that allows them to stay ...