Recreational fishing for California spiny lobsters commenced Sept. 29 running through March 20, 2024, and local anglers – and those selling their catches – are looking forward to a successful season.
Stakeholders say there has been a big change in recent years in the way the annual seasonal catch is being marketed, with lobsters being sold more locally now. Previously, the crustaceans were mostly shipped overseas.
“Prior to 2008, 99% of the lobsters caught in Southern California were sent to Los Angeles before being shipped to China,” said Mitch Conniff, owner of Mitch’s Seafood in Point Loma, who has been involved in San Diego fishing for decades with stints working as a deckhand on commercial lobster boats.
“For a lot of years there was a van that drove down from LA every day and bought our lobsters and shipped them to China,” concurred Point Loma lobster fisherman Cameron Cribben (above), an angler since age 14, about recent changes in marketing his lobster take. “Ten years ago, every lobster I caught went to China. Now after COVID, and since some of my business partners opened up TunaVille Market, a lot of my lobsters are being sold locally to the community.”
Conniff pointed out that the local lobster catch is as rare as it is highly valued. “There are only a couple of spiny lobster species on the face of the Earth, with two main fisheries in Southern California and Northern Baja and in Australia, with another small fishery in South Africa,” he said adding, “The Chinese marketplaces a huge value on those.”
But now with local competition furnished by TunaVille and others, Conniff said, “We can keep lobsters here more locally because we can now compete with the Chinese buyers on price. At this point in time, 50 percent or more of the local lobster catch is bought from places like TunaVille and the docks on Market at G Street Downtown. We’ve seen a huge switch to local buyers and restaurants.”
Conniff added Southern California is a “very highly managed fishery” with very special size limitations required of the lobster take, and a very limited number of permitted seasonal anglers.
Cribben purchased a lobster permit 11 years ago and has been fishing for the crustaceans ever since. He said that the permit allows him to place 300, 36-inch by 28-inch traps baited with tuna heads at a depth ranging between five and 200 feet.
“I fish the tidepools at Sunset Cliffs in 25 feet of water,” Cribben said, noting the law requires him to service the traps he sets within 96 hours. “Every day is different,” he added about monitoring his take which can be done in overnight or two- or three-day “soaks.”
Noting the local lobster population is healthy, Cribben said that doesn’t guarantee a successful catch. “For every legal lobster, there are five ‘short’ lobsters,” he said. “You can pull 30 lobsters – and only keep three.”
Describing lobster fishing as the “best job in the world,” Cribben, who captains a long-range sport fishing boat the rest of the year, noted lobstering is “a hard way to make a living.” Still, he pointed out: “You can make a living doing this full-time.” He added the downside of lobstering is that “it is not a guaranteed paycheck, and it is time away from the family.”
Nonetheless, Cribben feels privileged to be able to practice his craft, as there are only 130 lobster permits total granted by the State Department of Fish and Wildlife statewide. Only up to 20 of those permits are granted in San Diego.
The California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) is found from Monterey Bay, Calif., to the Gulf of Tehuantepec, Mexico. It typically grows to a length of 12 inches, is a reddish-brown color with stripes along the legs, and has a pair of enlarged antennae but no claws. Females can carry up to 680,000 eggs, which hatch after 10 weeks into larvae. These feed on plankton before the metamorphosis into the juvenile state. Adults are nocturnal and migratory, living among rocks at depths of up to 213 feet. They feed on sea urchins, clams, mussels, and worms.
The spiny lobster is eaten by various fish, octopuses, and sea otters, but can defend itself with a loud noise produced by its antennae. The California spiny lobster is the subject of both commercial and recreational fishing in both Mexico and the United States, with sport fishermen using hoop nets and commercial fishermen using lobster traps.
Lobster Fishing information: Recreational lobster season opens on the Friday preceding the first Wednesday in October and closes on the first Wednesday after March 15.
Possession yoimit: Seven per person.
Minimum yoegal size: Three and one-fourth inches, measured in a straight line on the midline of the back from the rear edge of the eye socket to the rear edge of the body shell. Regardless of how you are fishing for lobster, they must be measured immediately when taken. Under-size lobsters may not be in your possession. Any under-size lobster must be promptly released back into the ocean. These regulation changes were adopted by the California Fish and Game Commission on April 20, 2023.
Permit requirements: A CDFW Spiny Lobster Report Card and California recreational fishing license, available at CDFW’s Online License Sales and Service. Spiny lobster hoop netters and divers have always been required to record the month, day, location, and gear code on their Spiny Lobster Report Card prior to beginning fishing activity. Fishery participants must record the number of lobsters retained, even if zero, when they finish fishing for the day, or before moving to a location with a different code to continue fishing.
Skin and scuba diver gear requirements: All skin and scuba divers must only use their hands to take lobster.
Pier fishing gear requirements: You may use up to two hoop nets while fishing from a public pier.
Vessel fishing gear requirements: You may possess up to five hoop nets while fishing from a vessel, but the total number of hoop nets from a vessel cannot exceed 10, even if there are more than two people on the boat. For more detailed information on recreational lobster regulations and management, visit CDFW’s California Spiny Lobster web page.
