Costs and management options evaluated in Dungeness crab fishery

The Dungeness crab fishery in California is economically significant, but threatened by increasing intensification. This analysis of operating costs and attitudes toward new management measures for this fishery opens a platform for decision making and policy-setting within the fishery. Most fishermen support only two of twelve proposed alternative measures (a single trap limit for all vehicle sizes, and daylight-only fishing), but responses differ between owners of different sized vessels. These measures alone are not considered sufficient to reduce fish harvests to reduce impacts on the fishery.