California Delays Commercial Dungeness Crab Season to January; Recreational Crabbing Opens November 7

California will not open its commercial Dungeness crab season before January 1, 2027, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced on Friday, October 30, 2026. Recreational crabbing still opens on Saturday, November 7, but only with hoop nets and crab snares: crab traps are prohibited from the Oregon border to Point Conception until at least January 1.

The decision covers Fishing Zones 1 through 5, which includes the waters off San Francisco. It follows a risk assessment the CDFW director conducted on October 30 under the state’s Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program, which sets rules for how the crab fishery responds when humpback whales, blue whales and leatherback sea turtles are at risk of getting tangled in trap lines.

What the October 30 decision does

• Commercial season: delayed in Fishing Zones 1 to 5, from the California/Oregon border to Point Conception, until at least January 1, 2027.
• Recreational season: opens November 7, 2026 for hoop nets and crab snares (loop traps). Recreational crab traps are prohibited in Zones 1 to 5 until at least January 1, 2027.
• Hoop net rule: CDFW reminds anglers that hoop nets must be serviced every two hours and cannot be left unattended for longer.
• Fleet Advisory: issued for recreational crabbers, who are asked not to set gear where whales are present.
• Health closure on the North Coast: recreational take and possession of Dungeness crab is prohibited from Cape Mendocino to the Ten Mile State Marine Reserve, north of Fort Bragg, after state health agencies found unhealthy levels of domoic acid. The closure is on the Mendocino and southern Humboldt coast, not in the Bay Area.

The full documents, including the Director’s Declaration, are posted on CDFW’s Whale Safe Fisheries page.

Why the season is delayed

CDFW said the commercial delay and the recreational trap restriction are required by the number of humpback whale entanglements in 2026 and the high number of humpbacks across the fishing grounds. In its preliminary assessment dated October 23, the department scored 2026 humpback entanglements at 3.25. Under the program’s rules, a score of 3 or more rules out a commercial opener before January 1. The department added that the delay “will also allow whales to migrate out of California waters prior to the opening of the commercial fishery.”

“Partnerships are more important than ever as we work together to protect endangered whales and turtles and our fishing communities in the face of increasing disruptions from our changing climate,” CDFW Director Meghan Hertel said in the department’s announcement.

Preliminary National Marine Fisheries Service data show 37 whale entanglements off California, Oregon and Washington in the first nine months of 2026, including 30 humpbacks, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, as reported by Bay City News. The Center said that count had not been reached since 2016. Ben Grundy-Hawley, an oceans campaigner at the Center, called the delay “good news for whales” and urged the state to authorize pop-up gear, which keeps buoys and lines on the seafloor until a fisher sends a remote signal, for the full season.

What it means for crab in San Francisco

Dungeness crab from California’s commercial fleet between the Oregon border and Point Conception will not be landed before January 1, so fresh-caught California crab will not be part of Thanksgiving or Christmas this year. That includes the local Dungeness that the crab stands at Fisherman’s Wharf cook during the season. Our guide to San Francisco seafood covers cioppino, oysters and other classic dishes to look for in the meantime.

This is the second year in a row that whales have pushed the opener back. On October 24, 2025, CDFW delayed the commercial season in Zones 1 to 6. On December 19, 2025, it set a January 5, 2026 opening for Zones 3 to 5, which include the Bay Area, under a 40 percent gear reduction.

What happens next

CDFW lists its next risk assessments for December 15 to 18 and January 13 to 15, subject to change. At the mid-December review, the director will consider a recommendation from the Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group and decide when the commercial season can open and when recreational traps can return. We will update this post when that decision is posted.

For recreational crabbers heading out on November 7, CDFW’s crab rules are at wildlife.ca.gov/crab, and the domoic acid closure information line is (831) 649-2883. For other things to plan this month, see our November 2026 guide to San Francisco.

Sources: California Department of Fish and Wildlife Whale Safe Fisheries page, Director’s Declaration and preliminary assessment (October 2026); CDFW announcement, October 30, 2026; Bay City News via Local News Matters, October 30, 2026.

Photo: Fred Hsu, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.