After a robust start to the Bay Area’s commercial Dungeness crab season last November, supplies became strained around New Year’s.
The reason?
Crabs off the state’s far northern coast — Mendocino, Humboldt, Del Norte counties — had not reached maturity yet, so the California Department of Fish and Wildlife delayed the opening of that crab season. Officials tested again, and delayed. And again.
Finally, the crabs were deemed ready for harvesting, and that commercial season started today, Jan. 15.
The delays weren’t unusual, the state reported.
“Although we have witnessed delays in the opening of the Dungeness crab commercial fishery in recent seasons due to domoic acid, a delay in the northern portion of the fishery due to quality isn’t unprecedented,” Christy Juhasz, a CDFW environmental scientist, said in a statement.
She added: “The last time the northern season opener was delayed due to quality occurred with the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons and both those seasons started on Jan. 15.”
At Draeger’s in Danville’s Blackhawk center, meat/seafood manager Dan Chavez is “definitely” looking forward to increased supplies from the North Coast. As for the size and quality of those crabs, “There is no way to know 100 percent until the boats come in.”
Ditto for The Fish Market, which has restaurants in San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Jose, Palo Alto, San Diego and Del Mar. A seafood manager there said they won’t know until their crab supplier, Farallon Fishery, reports back on the haul.
“We don’t want to charge an arm and a leg” for the 10-legged crustaceans, he said. “We want to be reasonable.”
