California leads spike in whale entanglements last year, NOAA report says
By Carlos E. Castañeda
The number of large whale entanglements in U.S. waters increased steeply in 2024, with California seeing the most of the incidents, a U.S. government report said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a report last week documenting 95 large whale entanglements in 2024, compared to 64 in 2023 and well above the historical average of around 71 per year. The majority of the entanglements, 71%, happened off the coast of four states: Alaska, California, Hawaii and Massachusetts, the report said. Of those, 25% occurred off the California coast, primarily in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Area.
The report said about half of the entanglements, mostly of humpback whales, were directly attributed to commercial or recreational fisheries. Whales become snagged in fishing gear used to catch lobster, crab, and other species, affecting their ability to swim, reproduce, and feed, and often causing death.
Entanglements and vessel strikes are two main causes of whale deaths, according to the NOAA. The agency says that since 2007, at least 922 humpback whales have been maimed or killed by long lines of rope fishermen use to pull up crab cages.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife shortened the commercial Dungeness crab season off the San Francisco Bay Area coast because of the heightened risk of migrating whales coming back up the coast and becoming entangled.
The NOAA report comes as the agency faces budget cuts from the Trump administration and while draft legislation in Congress could weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
“This report paints a clear picture: our current safeguards are not enough,” said advocacy group Oceana senior campaign director Gib Brogan in a prepared statement. “With current threats to the MMPA and funding cuts to NOAA, the numbers could climb even higher next year. To give whales a fighting chance, Congress must defend NOAA and core laws like the MMPA and accelerate the transition to whale-safe fishing solutions like ropeless or pop-up fishing gear to prevent off-the-charts entanglements.”
Ropeless fishing gear involves a remote-controlled pop-up balloon-like device that signals the crab cage to head to the ocean’s surface. However, the costs can be prohibitive for many fishermen already teetering in a cash-strapped industry.
“These findings underscore an urgent need for coordinated action. At The Marine Mammal Center, we believe that progress comes through partnership: between federal, state, and tribal agencies; fishers; researchers; and conservation organizations,” said Marine Mammal Center director of cetacean conservation biology Kathi George in an email to CBS News Bay Area. “Together, we can apply the best available science to reduce the risk of entanglement, through strategies like supporting fisher-led initiatives, improving detection and response efforts, and enhancing reporting and data sharing.”
