On the U.S. West Coast, whales have been documented entangled with gear and debris associated with numerous fishery and non-fishery sources (Saez et al. 2020). The most common source of entanglements is Dungeness crab gear, but other documented sources include pot/trap gear targeting CA spot prawn, sablefish, spiny lobster, coonstripe shrimp, and rock crab, as well as gillnets targeting highly migratory species, salmon, and other fishes.

Dungeness Crab Landings

Prey indices provide information on the abundance of krill and forage fish, key forage species for whales, and provide context for whether predators may concentrate in particular feeding grounds where these species are likely present. Increased coastal abundance of forage species can heighten whale entanglement risk.

Central California

NOAA Fisheries prepares stock assessment reports for all marine mammals in U.S. waters; population size estimates are derived from shipboard surveys and mark-recapture methods.

• Humpback whale - abundance

A combination of basin and regional scale indicators used to inform the seasonal development and variability of coastal upwelling, particularly in the spring. For example, the winter North Pacific High (NPH) monitors the area and intensity of atmospheric pressure, indicating whether strong upwelling conditions and krill populations are likely in the spring.

A spatial time series that tracks the area of coastal upwelling habitat, the Habitat Compression Index (HCI) is a regional indicator used to assess the likelihood of ecosystem shifts and shoreward distribution patterns of top marine predators like whales. Smaller values indicate periods when cool habitat is compressed onshore, heightening whale entanglement risk. Monthly HCI values are provided for the following latitude ranges:

• 43.5-48N