It’s been a tough and divisive time of late for commercial fishers on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, where their ability to make a living using some traditional methods is under pressure from wildlife regulators and controversy simmers over emerging technology aimed at preventing whale entanglements in lines attached to pots set to trap Dungeness crabs.

John Mellor, for one, projected a sense of gloom in the summer sun recently as he stood near his boat, the High Hopes, docked with other craft at a nearly silent Pier 45.

“It's hard to be at this point in my life and then see my livelihood kind of go down the drain,” said the 62-year-old Emeryville resident, who said he specializes in Dungeness crab and has been ocean fishing professionally since his teens. “I've been making pretty mu

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