good morning. This is what you need to know to start your day.
- California wants to protect whales. Will it kill the state’s dungeons crab industry?
- The leading pediatricians were already worried about the future of the vaccine. Then came RFK Jr.
- Hiking and yoga are the perfect combo. Get a 2-on-1 workout with these SOCAL spots.
- And there is this Today’s e-newspaper.
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The terrible challenges in California
Dungeness clubs are being pulled out from the Pacific Ocean for use in sushi rolls, salads and cakes of that name.
Cooking demand for crustaceans burns around $45 million a year in the Golden State, fueling its annual season, historically from late fall to midsummer.
But as Times reporter Hannah Wyley explained this week, Krava is in a pinch after a late, overwhelming start to the seasonthis suffers from many complications.
This season was “repeated repeatedly,” she writes, because of both increased levels of domoic acid, a toxin that accumulates in shellfish. “[It] It will open after the new year and may end in spring. The shortened timeline cut California commercials out of lucrative Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year markets, destroying fleet revenue expectations. ”
Crew members Bradlee Titus, left, Axel Bjorklund throw the line as they set up a pan of crab from the Sonoma County coast.
(Brian van der Bragg/Los Angeles Times)
One Challenge for Clubbers: Increased regulations aimed at protecting migratory whales
Gear crab fishermen rely on catching and carrying claws. Of particular concern off the coast of California are the humpback whales that pass through California waters and into tropical breeding grounds.
After years of cuts, in 2024, we saw 34 recorded entanglements, according to preliminary data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the highest number in six years.
Species are listed as “blackmailed” or “endangered species” depending on Their subgroupand entanglement is a potentially deadly light-like form for whales that wildlife advocates and state regulators have been working on cutting.
Marine biologist Nancy Black told Hannah that seeing entangled whales was “really painful.”
“Especially if you see something that has been holding it for a long time, or if you’re cutting your body or wrapped in your mouth,” she added.
Two crew members of the fishing boat pull a crab pot from the Pacific Ocean.
(Brian van der Bragg/Los Angeles Times)
Crabba bars should drop and use ropes of a specific color to limit potential hauling, spend money to replace gear and limit use of certain colors of ropes .
There is another complexity. “Wildlife groups, states and fisheries leaders disagree with what entanglements are “acceptable.” ” Hannah pointed out. “Federal and state guidance is not always clear and often disrupts parents and crew.”
Hannah spoke with veteran Crabber Dick Ogg who wants to avoid hurting whales but thinks it’s unrealistic by regulators.
“They want Zero’s intertwining,” he told her. “And zero is not an achievable number.”
And as whales are expected to start passing through California’s waters in the coming weeks, clubbers are now brave enough for the already contracted season to halt.
Dungeness crab fishermen throw crab buoys and line up from the fishing boat Karen Jeanne, setting up crab pots.
(Brian van der Bragg/Los Angeles Times)
The solution is in progress
Some clubbers are experimenting with new types “Pop-up” Gear that can solve many of the entanglement problems.
“Traditional crab gears use vertical lines to connect the pot to the surface buoys, while pop-up gears hold the rope and floating devices on the seabed with traps,” Hannah explained.
When it’s time to carry the trap, the clubber pulls out the smartphone instead of pulling up the line. The app sends an underwater acoustic signal to the trap and releases the buoy.
However, some cravas are not being sold in technology, worrying about how well they will work in choppy waters.
you can Read more about the crab’s conundrum in Hannah’s story.
Today’s top stories
Researcher Youngmi Ji is conducting research at the National Institute of Health, which studies orthopedic diseases. Trump’s budget proposal will cut NIH funding by about 20%.
(National Institute of Health)
California is taking part in a legal battle to stop the National Institutes of Health cuts
HIV infection could jump 6x when you withdraw support
- The head of the UN AIDS agency said that if support for America’s biggest AIDS program is removed, the number of new HIV infections could jump six or more times by 2029, with millions of people warned that death could lead to more resistant strains of the disease.
- The UN AIDS director also said the loss of US support for efforts to combat HIV was at another important time, and what she called the “magic prevention tool” is known as the Renacapaville. It worked just like men with complete protection against HIV in women, double shots that were shown to be offered twice as many shots a year.
What else is happening?
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Must see this morning
Dr. Adam Ratner, who heads the Pediatric Sexually Transmitted Diseases Unit at Nyu Langone’s Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital, said in his new book, “Booster Shot: The Urgent Lessons of Measles and the Uncertain Future of Child Health,” the virus history and its vaccination I’m tracking. ”
(Kevin Perez)
The leading pediatricians were already worried about the future of the vaccine. Then came RFK Jr.. Measles is “the first thing you see when public health begins to decline,” Dr. Adam Ratner said. “It’s not that humans are immune to these diseases or that they are magically protected against these things that Americans have killed many of us,” he said. “They can come back, and they will.”
Other Must See
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For downtime
Emily Phillips Blinker teaches yoga at Griffith Park in Los Angeles.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
Going out
stay
Question for you: What advice did you have changed your life?
Stephen Reed “As a teenager and competitive debate, I’ve learned that ironic wit is an effective weapon in dealing with family and peers, but sometimes it can be mean. Once upon a time when my stepmother drove into the car, she said, “Your words can really hurt people.” What I found interesting was that it could have such a deliberate and negative effect, and it surprised me to know that that simple perception had led me ever since. ”
Please email to EssentialCalifornia@latimes.comand your response may appear in the newsletter this week.
And finally… your photo of the day
Show us your favorite places in California! Send me photos of a special California spot – Natural or human works – and tell us why they are important to you.
Although ML’s right to participate in women’s sports is being challenged, she said she has not retreated. Here she practices the hurdle.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Today’s great photos are from the Times Photographer Gina Ferrazzi. The photo shows a transgender girl from Riverside High School, and has become an important battlefield for the intense national debate over transgender youth in sports.
Have a great day from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Defne Karabatur, Fellow
Andrew Kampa, Sunday reporter
Kevinisha Walker, Multi-Platform Editor
Hunter Klaus, Multi-Platform Editor
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, Deputy Metro Editor
Karim Dwemer, head of the newsletter
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