After being delayed about a month due to the risk of whale entanglements, the commercial Dungeness crab season will finally open Sunday, Dec. 15, south of the Mendocino/Sonoma County line.
Fishermen will be allowed to set up gear starting at 6 a.m. Saturday and can begin hauling in the prized crustaceans at precisely 12:01 a.m. Sunday. Depending on weather, Dungeness crab could be available off the dock and reach local markets that same day, though Monday or Tuesday might be a more realistic timeframe.
“Everyone’s really excited and it’s real busy here,” Fisherman Frank Souza said of Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay, from which the local commercial fleet is set to launch early Saturday morning. “The crab is good, clean and full. It’s good to go.”
Sport fishermen have been allowed to catch crab since the start of November and their success is part of why the commercial fleet is feeling optimistic.
Souza said prices have been settled at $3 a pound for fishermen, which typically comes out to $6 per pound off the dock for the consumer. Local stores are not yet sure what they’ll charge.
In parts of Northern California and Oregon, the commercial season will remain closed through the end of the year because tests continue to show crab are below minimum requirements and not yet ready for harvesting. The delays in those areas will likely translate to higher prices here, Souza said.
The commercial crab season historically begins Nov. 15, but consistent whale sightings have sidelined the fleet out of fear of trapping marine life in their fishing gear and exposing themselves to a lawsuit.
“The guys have just been sitting around, waiting and anticipating,” Souza said.
Shortened crab seasons have become a common occurrence in recent years, with the 2015-16 season canceled due to the presence of domoic acid, a byproduct of algae blooms that can cause diarrhea and vomiting when eaten, in the crab. The 2018 recreation season was delayed because of the acid, though the commercial season began on time, while last year the season was cut short by a couple months due to whale entanglements.
Fishermen are worried that a premature end to the crab season could become a new normal.
State officials warned against eating the internal organs or guts of crabs caught in certain parts of the state, but have since lifted all health advisories in California after tests came back clean. Tests of crab caught near Half Moon Bay have been clean since early November.
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2019-12-14 12:45:00Z
https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/crab-season-set-to-finally-open-sunday/article_ba5f7f48-1e28-11ea-aa1c-f75ebd0380c8.html
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