The commercial crab season by all accounts has been a successful one so far as fishermen are pleased with the amount of crustaceans they’re hauling in and prices are relatively low heading into the holidays.
After a monthlong delay due to the risk of whales getting entangled in fishing gear, the commercial season finally opened Sunday at precisely one minute past midnight and crabbers have been working around the clock since. Storms did sideline many of them for about a day earlier in the week, but aside from that hiccup, the season appears to be in full swing.
“Fishermen are happy with the yield so far and I’ve even heard them use the word ‘bountiful,’” said Chris Tibbe, harbormaster at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay. “There’s a lot of crab down here. It’s been real busy.”
Tibbe also had high praise for the quality of crab being caught in the area.
“The crab is fantastic, it’s very high quality and sweet,” he said. “This is the Christmas crab and the one we all wanted on Thanksgiving, but couldn’t get.”
“Bountiful” crab means reasonable prices for consumers, though fishermen feel they’re getting lowballed at $3 per pound. That translates to about $6 or $7 per pound off the dock for consumers while just a little more than that at local grocery stores.
Draeger’s Market in San Mateo is selling both live and cooked crab for $8.98 per pound, which is half the price the store was selling it for last year, said Fernando Felix, who works in the meat and seafood department.
“Prices this year are very low,” he said, adding that there was a shortage of local crab around this time last year.
Princeton Seafood Company in Half Moon Bay is charging $7 per pound for live crab and $8.95 a pound if it’s cooked while Lunardi’s in Belmont is only selling cooked crab for $13.99 per pound.
Half Moon Bay-based fisherman Frank Sousa, who has been dropping his pots around the Farallones Islands, echoed Tibbe’s assessment of the season so far.
“It’s been good, the volume is definitely higher than last year,” he said. “We’re all just happy to be working again.”
Other fishermen described yields as strong so far, but not quite as strong as they were expecting.
“We’re off to a good start, but it’s not quite the banner season we were hoping for,” said Porter McHenry. “It’s not wide open fishing everywhere you go.”
Fisherman Scott Edson said the weather earlier in the week was the worst he’s crabbed in, but since it’s cleared up he’s been hauling in an enviable 4,000 pounds of healthy crab a day. He’s enjoying those numbers while they last as yields tend to drop dramatically after the first few weeks of the season and the weather worsens.
“Losing November due to the delays was rough because that’s when we have the best weather,” he said.
Crab can be purchased off the boat at Pillar Point Harbor daily, Tibbe said, adding that it may also be available on Christmas Day and other holidays.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
2019-12-21 12:32:04Z
https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/crab-season-in-full-swing/article_244085d8-23b0-11ea-9c58-df6b16f0e8d9.html
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