Dungeness Crab Task Force Meeting #18 – October 15-16, 2025 – In Person
Meeting Agenda
Wednesday, October 15, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Thursday, October 16, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Justice Joseph Rattigan State Office, Room 410
50 D St, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
View the meeting materials (scroll down to “DCTF Meeting #18 – October 15-16, 2025 – In Person”).
Meeting Goals:
- Identify and address DCTF administrative items, including introducing new Members, confirming the updated Charter, Executive Committee membership, etc.
- Receive updates relevant to the Dungeness crab industry and ensure Members have access to information that may inform DCTF deliberations during this meeting.
- Discuss high-priority topics, including, but not limited to, sunsetting Fish and Game Code sections as they relate to the California Dungeness crab fishery, lost gear retrieval, marine life entanglements and the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program, Restoring America’s Seafood Competitiveness Executive Order, etc.
- Confirm recommendations to be forwarded via a report to the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and the Fish and Game Commission.
Agenda
Wednesday, October 15, 2025 9:00am – 4:00pm
1. Welcome, introductions, and agenda review.
2. Public comment on non-agenda items.
3. Address administrative items, including review and confirm updated Charter, confirm Executive Committee composition, etc.
a. Administrative Vote: Consideration and possible adoption of updated Charter, including updated Executive Committee Membership.
4. Receive updates and discuss California Dungeness crab fishery topics, including, but not limited to, California’s preseason quality and domoic acid testing, 2024-25 season landings, Fiscal Year 2023-24 Dungeness Crab Trap Limit Program accounting, progress on previous DCTF recommendations, etc.
ACTION: Consideration and possible recommendations related to updates, which may include, but are not limited to, requests for information, requests for funding, reaffirming previous recommendations, or other management measure recommendations.
5. Presentation and follow-up on the DCTF’s 2024 recommendations regarding retrieval of lost fishing gear to address entanglement concerns.
ACTION: Consideration and possible adoption of recommendations related to improvements/modifications to the Trap Gear Retrieval Program(s).
6. Discussion about marine life entanglements in the California Dungeness crab fishery and the RAMP, including, but not limited to, implementation of the updated RAMP, exploration of RAMP tools, gear reduction, etc.
ACTION: Consideration and possible recommendation(s) related to marine life entanglements, RAMP, and RAMP implementation, including, but not limited to, regulatory requests, etc.
7. Review of sunsetting Fish and Game code sections relevant to the California Dungeness crab fishery, including, but not limited to, §8275-8285, the process for reauthorizing code sections, identification of code sections that require clarification, amendments, deletion, etc..8
8. Review and discuss NOAA Fisheries’ request for recommendations for Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness. Consider potential recommendations to California fisheries managers regarding how the state can respond to the directives of the Executive Order in the context of Dungeness crab fishery management.
9. Review agenda topics for Day 2
10. Adjourn
Thursday, October 16, 2025 9:00am-4:00pm
11. Welcome and recap of Day 1.
12. Public comment on non-agenda items.
13. Revisit discussions from Day 1, including, but not limited to, Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness, sunsetting Fish and Game Code sections, lost gear recovery, RAMP, marine life entanglements, etc.
ACTION: Consideration and possible recommendation(s) related to the Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness Executive Order and public comment period.
ACTION: Consideration and possible adoption of recommendation(s) related to Fish and Game code sections, including, but not limited to, those related to the Dungeness crab trap limit program, limited entry, crab quality testing, etc.
ACTION: Consideration and possible adoption of recommendation(s) related to clarifying, amending, or eliminating Fish and Game code sections.
ACTION: Consideration and possible adoption of recommendation(s) related to funding priorities, strategies to facilitate advancement of DCTF recommendations with the Legislature and fisheries managers, etc.
14. Review next steps and confirm topics for future discussion by the DCTF and/or the Executive Committee.
15. Adjourn
Agenda items and related action items may be taken out of order at the discretion of the DCTF Administrative Team. Every effort will be made to address all items on the agenda. However, the DCTF may postpone certain discussions or actions due to time limitations or the need to revisit topics with their constituents before moving an item forward.
Public Participation and Comment: Members of the public will be invited to provide comment following each agenda item. Additional information about providing public comment is available online. To request an item to be added to a future meeting agenda, please review the guidelines online.
Questions about the meeting or agenda can be directed to info@dungenesscrabtaskforce.com or 805-845-9852. Any person who has a disability and requires reasonable accommodation to participate in this DCTF meeting should contact Rachelle Fisher (rachelle@strategicearth.com or or 714-330-7976) no later than five days prior to the meeting.
For more information about the DCTF, please visit the DCTF website. A meeting summary will be posted on the DCTF webpage following the meeting. To receive updates about the DCTF’s activities, including when summaries are available, please sign up for the DCTF email list.