Very soon Dungeness crab will hit the market as the season of North Coast crab fishing is open this week, just in time for crab feeds throughout the Sacramento region. Crabbing in the cold waters of the Pacific from the Mendocino coast northward has been closed until crabs could mature. The amount of meat in the crabs was simply not enough to allow them to be taken by commercial crabbers.
Pete Kalvass, state Department of Fish and Game senior environmental scientist, said that this year was one of the most delayed years in the last couple of decades in the northern area. He added that even the meat-to-body weight ratio is not standard and so the community is in depression and they look forward to this season with high expectation.
The growth rate of the delicious crustacean was delayed this year along the North Coast. In the meantime, the season for the central part of the fishery, Half Moon Bay, San Francisco and Sonoma County, opened Nov. 15. The fishing industry did delay going after those crabs a couple of weeks over price issues. Because of the delay there will be a staggering of the seasons between the central and northern fisheries. That could mean crabbers could get a good price without a glut of crabs on the market.
