We welcome the news that Bill 1287, also known as the Whale Protection & Crab Gear Retrieval Act has passed and now involved agencies are working on implementation.
US North Coast Senator Mike McGuire first introduced the bill in 2016 with the aim to help stop whale entanglements up and down the California coast. The Senator hopes the bill will be fully implemented by mid-2018 which will require crabbers to be responsible for collecting their gear, or else they could face losing their commercial fishing license. The Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture will soon be hosting a meeting in Eureka to discuss the bill’s implementation progress.
Photo Credit: Department of Environment & Conservation
