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Deadly Whale Entanglements Skyrocketing Off California Coast

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A record number of whales have become entangled in debris floating off the California coast, sparking a new law targeting the recovery of lost crab fishing gear.

According to State Senator Mike McGuire (D-2nd District), 57 whales became entangled in debris off the California coast in 2015 -- the most since the National Marine Fisheries Service started keeping records in 1982.

Already this year, McGuire said, there have been reports of 40 entanglements.

In an effort to lower the number, McGuire has authored a bill that would create a regulatory program with incentives for fishermen to retrieve Dungeness crab fishing gear that would otherwise be lost in the ocean.

The bill has passed in both houses of the State Legislature and is now on Governor Jerry Brown's desk for signing.

"Whale entanglement numbers are skyrocketing off the California coast and we're bringing together crabbers and environmentalists to get this common sense bill signed into law," McGuire said in a prepared statement.

The proposed legislation also has the backing of several captains in the crab fishing fleet including the powerful Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, the Crescent City Fishermen's Association, the Half Moon Bay Seafood Marketing Association among others.

Under the new law, Dungeness crab fishermen, who obtain a retrieval permit through this program, would collect old crab traps after the crab season has closed each year. Those fishermen will be paid a recovery bounty for each trap retrieved from the ocean.

The bill also establishes a fee to be paid by the owner that lost or abandoned the crab trap. A crab fisherman who doesn't buy back their lost or abandoned crab traps will not be able to get their vessel permit the next season.

California crab fisherman have been taking part in a pilot program for the last two years targeting lost gear. McGuire's office says approximately 1,500 lost crab pots have been collected in that program.

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