CDFW has approved, for the first time, the use of innovative pop-up gear as an “alternative gear” to catch Dungeness crab off California beginning in the spring of 2026. Commercial crabbers can now use pop-up gear to continue fishing during fishery closures each season between April 1 and July 15. This will protect wildlife like endangered humpback whales from entanglements in vertical lines used with conventional crab fishing gear. 

We are deeply saddened to share the passing of Rob Caughlan—a longtime ally of the Resource Renewal Institute, first president of the Surfrider Foundation, and a tireless protector of the California coast.

The Trump administration is pushing forward one of the most aggressive offshore drilling proposals in U.S. history—threatening over 1.27 billion acres of ocean waters with expanded oil and gas leasing. From the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico and across nearly the entire California coastline, no region is safe under this plan.

RRI joins a coalition of 132 organizations calling on Congress to pass emergency funding for communities devastated by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The November 2024 letter requests over $44 billion in disaster relief and infrastructure resilience funding while advocating for policy changes to strengthen federal disaster response capabilities.