California’s Dungeness crab lovers and fishermen got some good news about the crustaceans Friday, but also some bad news that could keep prices high leading into the holiday week.
The bad news is that the commercial season in Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties will be delayed an extra 15 days, until Jan. 15, because tests show the crabs there do not have enough meat, said the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Price for live crab is now up to ten dollars a pound
Media: KSBWThe commercial season, which normally opens in that area Dec. 1, had already been postponed to Dec. 31. The delay along the North Coast, as well as off Oregon and Washington, has been a factor in the high prices for Dungeness crab that are being caught from Sonoma County south to Morro Bay (San Luis Obispo County).
The good news: Officials have lifted a health advisory on recreational fishing for crab from Fort Bragg to Eureka. The advisory was prompted by high levels in crabs of domoic acid, a naturally occurring biotoxin, found in the viscera, or guts, of the crabs.
But there is still an advisory in effect for recreational crabbing from the Klamath River north to the Oregon border because of domoic acid levels. That means anglers should not eat the viscera of any crab taken from that area.
Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan