Don’t plan on Dungeness crab being on Bay Area dining tables for Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s Eve.

Commercial fishing for the traditional holiday fare has been delayed until at least Jan. 1 by the Department of Fish and Wildlife because too many whales are getting entangled in the gear. The decision was announced Friday.

The commercial season was held up twice last season to prevent migrating humpback whales from being killed in the long lines that connect crab traps to the surface.

Preliminary data from the National Marine Fisheries Service showed 37 whale entanglements off California, Oregon and Washington in the first nine months of the year, including 30 humpbacks, the highest number since 2016, according to the Center for Biological Diversity in Oakland.

Recreational fishing for Dungeness crab will open under trap restrictions beginning Nov. 7, except north of Fort Bragg where scientists have found unhealthy levels of domoic acid. Recreational take or possession of Dungeness crab there is prohibited.

Risk to migrating whales is key consideration

Commercial Dungeness crab fishing will be delayed from the Oregon border to Point Conception until at least Jan. 1, the Fish and Wildlife Department said.

“This delay will also allow whales to migrate out of California waters prior to the opening of the commercial fishery,” the department said.

The department will reassess the whale risk in mid-December to decide when to lift catch restrictions.

“Delaying the crab season is good news for whales, and a no brainer since entanglements are already so high this year,” said Ben Grundy-Hawley, an oceans campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Humpbacks are still at risk until California authorizes pop-up fishing gear for the entire season.”

DIGITALLY UPSCALED IMAGE: A diagram shows the components of pop-up fishing gear designed to reduce whale entanglements in California’s Dungeness crab fishery. The system keeps its buoy and retrieval line submerged until a remotely activated release mechanism allows them to rise to the surface, eliminating the need for a line extending continuously from the seafloor. (California Department of Fish and Wildlife, digitally upscaled for clarity)

So-called pop-up fishing gear that hugs the seafloor was approved in March for part of the Central Coast.

The equipment uses buoys and lines that remain coiled on the seafloor until a commercial fisherman is ready to retrieve their gear. A remote signal triggers the release of the buoy which carries the line to the surface and allows crabbers to locate the trap, the Wildlife Department said at the time.

“The marine heatwave means even more whales are in danger of getting tangled in fishing gear, so state officials need to quickly OK this safer gear,” Grundy-Hawley said. “They know how to stop these brutal entanglements, and I’m infuriated that they’re not doing it.”