There were reports of bad crab season but the fishermen say it is decent. Lance Edwards, a member of the commercial fishing crew on the Pacific Rose, said that the ‘phenomenal” weather has helped the crew along so far, though choppy weather Wednesday sent the boat back to harbor without a catch. Todd Fraser of Bayside Marine, said that it is definitely better than last year.
He told that this season is been a good sport opener, and commercial season is still going pretty good. Boccie Azevedo, 79, who has been a commercial fisherman at the Santa Cruz harbor since the late 1960s, only fishes crab for sport now. He has been catching his limits of 10 crabs per day. And the crabs are commercial grade, with carapaces six and a quarter inches or larger.
Edwards opined that the Pacific Rose crew is currently selling crab to markets for $2.45 to $3.25 a pound. Others are selling crabs right off the dock on weekends, making about $5 a pound. Still, commercial boat crews at Santa Cruz harbor have thinned this year. Bob Weiss, who has fished commercially for five years, has one deckhand this year instead of two.
Fishermen delivered throngs of brown, orange, and blue Dungeness crab to local markets Sunday after the commercial season started. According to Rob McPherson of Stagnaro Bros. at the wharf, that price has dropped by about $5 per pound since Sunday, since crab is no longer shipped in from Alaska or Canada and markets are buying locally.
