Thursday, January 25, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Charlton H. Bonham lifted the commercial spiny lobster fishery closure in state waters around the northeast side of Santa Cruz Island and the south side of Anacapa Island as recommended by state health agencies. According to the notice from the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, sampling of spiny...
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Question: What causes thousands and thousands of tiny clams to be left on shore at Newport Beach as far as the eye can see? This was Sunday, Jan. 14. Does this happen regularly, and if so, why? (Edwin Marcus) Answer: Those appear to be bean clams (Donax gouldii). This is a Southern California clam species found on sandy shores from Point Conception to...
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Our coastal rivers are finally getting the flushing and scouring they desperately need. The latest round of storms has brought the rivers to their highest levels of the season, providing ample water for steelhead to make it back to the streams and creeks where they were conceived. The extra flows will also trigger the fish that are still swimming in...
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Six months since my last article here.  I had planned on writing several stories with the advent of crab season back in November.  I had gone out early on opening day to my favorite spot and promptly snared eight Dungeness Crab.   The only problem?  All nine were about a quarter inch too short!  I went back out again to my...
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And they’re off! Oregon’s most valuable commercial fishery for the state’s official crustacean, Dungeness crab, got underway north of Cape Blanco yesterday. This year’s opening was delayed from its target start date of Dec. 1 because testing of crabs on some parts of the Pacific coast showed crabs were low in meat yield. In partnership with the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission and the...
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