The Six Fifty, Embarcadero Media 450 Cambridge Avenue, Palo Alto, CA (2025)

06/02/2025

The Dungeness crab industry — or fishery — brings in more than $50 million in a good year and naturally cycles through good and bad seasons. But this year, a lack of crabs is tacked on to a much bigger problem. Crab traps’ long, thin ropes, which stretch from seafloor to surface, have come under scrutiny for entangling endangered and threatened humpback whales. It’s an issue so contentious that in 2017, an environmental nonprofit sued the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, claiming it had failed to adequately protect the whales.

For the last seven years, the lawsuit and subsequent settlement have squeezed crab season into shorter periods. This year, the traditional eight-month season opened on Jan. 5 and closed May 1. And it’s not just the length of the season — a 50% reduction in the number of traps allowed out at sea is becoming the new normal.

With California’s struggling salmon fishery shut down completely for three years in a row, many of the region’s commercial fishermen no longer have enough to catch. The Dungeness crab fleet has been cut in half since 1980, and with other fisheries facing their own challenges, the overall California commercial fishing fleet shrank by 80% in the same period.

Read Kali Shiloh’s deep dive exploring whether whale conservation and commercial Dungeness crab fishing can coexist on our website.
https://www.paloaltoonline.com/environment/2025/02/03/the-50-million-question-can-californias-dungeness-crab-fishery-coexist-with-whale-conservation-efforts/
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Story by Kali Shiloh
Photos by Anna Hoch-Kenney
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05/31/2025

With the recent demise of Joann Fabrics, Peninsula residents may be looking for alternatives to buy fabrics along with sewing and knitting supplies. Thankfully, there isn’t a shortage of locally owned, independent stores with similar offerings.

05/29/2025

Tanya Stiller, director and instructor for the nonprofit Healing Tide, has been teaching people how to forage for seaweed sustainably for around 15 years. During the seaweed foraging season – late spring and early summer – she leads foraging trips on the coast, educating participants about local seaweed species and offering tips on how to utilize them responsibly.

Most of us probably get our seaweed by ordering rolls at a sushi restaurant or in packaged-snack form from the grocery store. But if you head out to the Coastside, you can find it straight from the source.

05/10/2025

Pescadero’s quaint and quiet Pie Ranch has become a regular pit stop for many day-trippers driving along scenic Highway 1, but those who popped by the ranch’s roadside farm stand last weekend found themselves walking into a scene that could have been straight out of the ‘70s.

From May 3-4, Pie Ranch opened its gates to an estimated 650 festivalgoers for the fourth annual May Day Music and Art Festival, organized by Boulder Creek-based nonprofit Lille Aeske Art House.

Tents and tailgate jam sessions sprung up as camper vans piled onto the property. Festivalgoers in tie-dye overalls, fur coats and long flowing dresses skipped arm in arm along a dirt road connecting the two stages as the winds picked up folk, bluegrass and roots music from the festival’s two stages.

While this was the festival’s fourth year, it was a groundbreaking one for organizers. This was the first year that the festival went for two days, the first time it offered camping and the first year it was held at Pie Ranch — the latter being a key component to the event’s expansion in 2025.

Read more about the May Day Music and Art Festival here:
https://www.paloaltoonline.com/ae/2025/05/08/jam-sessions-camper-vans-and-70s-vibes-this-san-mateo-county-ranch-hosted-hundreds-of-festivalgoers-for-a-weekend-of-music-art-and-camping/

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Story and photos by Anna Hoch-Kenney
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05/09/2025

Entries for our annual Short Story Contest are due TODAY. Submit your piece by tonight for a chance to see your work published in the Palo Alto Weekly and win $500: