Tag Archives: Dungeness crab
Dungeness crab fishing industry adapts to climate shock event
The delayed opening of the 2015-16 crab-fishing season followed the 2014-16 North Pacific marine heat wave and subsequent algal bloom. The bloom produced high levels of the biotoxin domoic acid, which can accumulate in crabs and render them hazardous for human consumption. That event, which is considered a “climate shock” because of its severity and impact, tested the resilience of California’s fishing communities,,, The study is the first to examine impacts from such delays across fisheries, providing insight into the response by the affected fishing communities,>click to read< 08:25
California: Dungeness crab fishermen unite during uncertain times
Commercial fishermen from the Half Moon Bay Seafood Marketing Association, the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association and the Bodega Bay Fishermen’s Marketing Association, have come together to broker an agreement that will ensure a safe and orderly start to the commercial Dungeness Crab season in California, once price negotiations are settled. Local groups are coordinating with all California ports,,, >click to read< 07:40
Washington State Crab Recall: Certain Dungeness crabs recalled because of poisoning risk
The Quinault Tribe of the Northwestern United States is voluntarily recalling almost 58,000 pounds of live or un-eviscerated Dungeness crab because of possible domoic acid contamination, which can cause amnesic shellfish poisoning in people. With Dungeness crab being a popular New Year’s dish, public health officials in Washing state posted the recall notice today in hopes of reaching holiday cooks before meals are prepared. It is not clear how far the crab may have been distributed. >click to read< 09:30
What? No Fresh Oregon Crab? Oregon crab fleet remains in port 2 weeks after open of Dungeness season
The commercial Dungeness crab season, Oregon’s most valuable fishery, opened at 12:01 a.m. on December 16. Two weeks later, the fleet remains tied up in port as crabbers and processors squabble over a price. Both Pacific Seafood and Hallmark Fishers have offered $2.50 per pound. Crabbers started at $3.30 but reduced their offer to $3.20 earlier this week. So far, no deal. And that means: so far, no fresh Oregon Dungeness crab. Crab boat captains have speculated that processors have decreased demand due to restaurant closures,,, >click to read< 17:05
California: Don’t expect Dungeness Crab for Christmas this year
“Unless a miracle happens, which is highly unlikely, we won’t see crab for Christmas,” said Tony Anello, a veteran fisher who runs his boat, the Annabelle, out of Bodega Bay and offers up his tender product at Spud Point Crab Co. After several years of varied setbacks and more than a month of delays to the 2020 Dungeness season, local crabbers now face a new hurdle as they haggle over price with large wholesalers. “We should be traveling right now,” Dick Ogg,,, wholesalers are asking skippers to cut their prices by 30% to 35%, leaving both sides approximately $1 a pound apart from an agreement that would start the crab season. >click to read< 08:05
Price Negotiation Delayed! Will there be Oregon Dungeness crab for Christmas? Fleet still in port
Commercial Dungeness crab season, Oregon’s most valuable fishery, opened Wednesday. But crab boats remain tied up on docks in Coos Bay. “We’re kind of sitting here with our hands tied behind our back. We’ve got really no options,” Rex Leach, owner of the fishing vessel, Ms. Julie, said this week. While weather can be a hold-up, that’s not the case right now. Fishermen are stalled because of price negotiations with processing plants. video, >click to read< 18:15
Crescent City Harbor: Crabbing as a family
After the state of California announced crab season would not open until Dec. 23, most of the owners and crews headed home to wait another week. The only boat with activity was the F/V Resolution, where boat owner Richard Nehmer and his crew made some final preparations. Nehmer also took the extra time to work with greenhorn Blake Mihelich, who is going crabbing for the first time. Nehmer was joined on the boat by his wife, Annie, and their children, Alana and Connor. “My grandfather was a fisherman, my father was a fisherman,” Richard said. “Connor will be a fourth-generation fisherman. Connor literally fishes with us. It’s his business, he just has to wait a few years.” photos >click to read< 09:18
Oregon: Commercial Dungeness crab season not starting as fishermen hoped
Wednesday signifies the official start of the commercial Dungeness crab season, but it’s not starting out the way fishermen had hoped. This is the day they would normally be pulling crab pots out of the water and getting crab to the processors. But the boats are all still tied to the docks. That’s because market prices are still in question. Two processors have put an offer on the table of $2.50/pound, but Pacific,,, >click to read< 20:39
California Dungeness Crab season opens Dec. 23
The official opening date of Nov. 15 had been delayed for weeks in the central California zone, from the Sonoma/Mendocino county line south, because of the possibility of migrating whales getting tangled in fishing lines. And it had been delayed in the northern zone, which consists of Humboldt, Mendocino and Del Norte counties, because the sample catch failed to reach the poundage required for testing.,, Since 2015, there have been delays in all but one commercial Dungeness season. A toxin, domoic acid, that could sicken anyone who eats the tainted crab destroyed Northern California’s 2015-2016 commercial season and created delays in other years. >click to read< 09:52
Dungeness Crab Season opens Dec.16th From Cape Falcon to the California border!
Fishing vessels can start setting gear for the pre-soak period as soon as Dec. 13 and see their first pulls hit the docks on opening day. The season is normally scheduled to open Dec. 1, but is often delayed for quality assurance reasons and toxin testing. Testing this year showed a low meat yield in crab specimens, prompting the two-week delay to allow the crabs to fill with meat. Last year’s opening day was delayed until Dec. 31 for similar reasons. Domoic acid levels in crab across the coast were found to be safe for human consumption,,, >click to read< 12:55
Monterey Bay Fishermen hit with new wave of Dungeness crab season delays
You couldn’t blame crab fishermen Tim and Dan Obert for feeling like they’re passing through the perfect storm. First there was the pandemic, which shut down restaurants and, in turn, much of the demand for Dungeness crab. Then a new regulation took effect on Nov. 1 that heavily restricts the Dungeness fishery’s operations when whales and sea turtles are around. Then the state delayed the opening of the Dungeness crab season until after Thanksgiving. “If you take all three of those things, you will destroy this fishery,” said Tim Obert, 35, of Scotts Valley. “There will be no crabbers left.” >click to read< 08:47
Delay in Dungeness crab season the latest in long string of delayed seasons
The Oregon Dungeness crab season has been delayed two weeks with a start date now set for December 16. It’s the latest in a long string of delayed seasons. The season start date is supposed to be December 1, but for six consecutive seasons it’s been delayed. “It’s a moving goalpost all the time with the Dungeness crab fishery and yeah, I guess were used to waiting here because the state makes the decision when we get to open the season,” says Nick Edwards, owner of F/V Carter Jon. >video, lick to read< 10:36
Port of Ilwaco Boatyard abuzz: Skippers and crews get set for busy seasons
The boatyard has been even more abuzz than normal since arrival of a much-anticipated new 75-ton marine Travelift on Nov. 3. “Boats are getting bigger and wider and we want to modernize our facility to meet their needs,” Glenn said. The colossal new machinery has already eased haul-outs, as more boats begin to arrive, eager to complete annual maintenance ahead of upcoming fishing seasons, starting with Dungeness crab, typically in December. The new marine lift was assembled over two days outside the boatyard before making its first official haul out with the F/V Branko Storm on Nov. 5.,, >21 photos, click to read< 16:21
Dungeness crab season might not open for Thanksgiving again
New state regulations may mean that Dungeness crabs won’t be in stores in time for Thanksgiving. The rules, aimed at preventing entanglements “I want to make sure it’s understood what kind of effort we’re putting into it as fishermen and how effective we’ve been,” said Dick Ogg, a Bodega Bay fisherman and a member of the California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group that developed the rules. He said that fishermen have worked hard to make sure their gear is set up better to lower risk. “We’ve really reduced our interaction and entanglement rates.” Ogg said there is a lot of anxiety in the fishing fleet about what will happen with the coming season and whether they should start gearing up for a Nov. 15 opening or whether it will be delayed. >click to read< 10:01
Oregon men caught setting stolen crab traps await trial
“Don’t say another word,” he told his friend. “I’ll be right there. Don’t go anywhere and don’t tell anyone.” Two men caught setting stolen crab traps in Cape Falcon Marine Reserve of the north Oregon coast await trial following a joint effort of citizen reporting and solid detective work. Bob Browning has fished Oregon waters all his life. He started fishing off the Garibaldi dock with his family when he was five years old. When he saw a strange object bobbing on the ocean surface, he pointed it out to his client, Dr. Sarah Henkel. Browning steered “The Lady Lee” in for a closer look.,, Browning threaded the rope through his hydraulic lift and started the motor. When a crab pot broke the surface of the water, they knew there was trouble. The line continued. Another crab pot rose from the depths. They reached for their phones to report it. The Investigation,,, >click to read< 18:37
Southeast’s commercial Dungeness crab summer season the second highest on record
Commercial salmon fisheries in Southeast are looking to be a bust this year, but that’s not the case for Dungeness crab. This summer’s harvest ended up being the second highest on record. But the value of the fishery was not near a record breaker. Fishermen brought in 5.81 million pounds of crab in a commercial season that ran from mid-June to mid-August. Joe Stratman leads crab management in Southeast for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “What was taken this summer is more than double the previous ten year average,” he said. >click to read< 11:40
A family of crabbers – Tradition provides a through line for generations
With his orange gloved hands, my dad pops the shell off the crab, then twists the crab in half and pulls the guts off, and then puts the crab halves in the tote beside him. We’re processing Dungeness crab at Mickey’s Fishcamp. My dad tells me when his mother first came up to live in Wrangell, she worked as crab shaker at the local cannery. Crabbing and shaking run in our family. We bought these crabs from my son, Mitch Mork, who’s deck-handing for his dad this summer, along with my two grandsons, Owen, 9, and Chatham, 6. They’re working 225 pots around the Wrangell area. Mitch crabs partially for work but mostly to hang out with his dad. He’s also teaching my grandkids how to work hard and showing them that being an employee isn’t their only option in life. >click to read< 11:05
‘Okay, so what do we do?’ – New Markets Reshape Crab Industry
“China shutting down was when we first started to feel the impact of the (coronavirus) pandemic, then the closures of restaurants and stores hit us full blast,” says Novotny. “All of a sudden nothing was going out.” “But necessity is the mother of invention. Everyone from the crabbers to the processors to the mom-and-pop places started saying, ‘Okay, so what do we do?’ and you started to see Pacific Seafood start shipping crab all over the country.” Until the pandemic, flash-freezing techniques, which freeze crabs in a briny block of ice to maintain flavor and texture, was a niche market, used primarily for small orders. >click to read< 10:37
Southeast Alaska Dungeness crab catch starts strong again, price drops
It’s not as large as last year’s haul. But the catch from the first week of the fishery has topped 960,000 pounds and is expected to increase with additional landings from that first week still to be tallied. Effort is down substantially. Only 119 permit holders landed crab in that first week, compared to 170 in that first week last year. The recent average is 147 permit holders landing crab. The average price has also dropped from last year. It’s around $1.72 a pound compared to $2.97 a pound in 2019. >click to read< 13:17
Crab Command and Control – California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group
“Whales getting entangled in fishing gear is a huge crisis,” says John Mellor, a commercial fisherman and a member of the working group since its inception. “It has to be dealt with, and dealt with in real time.” Once or twice a month during Dungeness crab fishing season, which normally runs from November 15 to July 15, scientists in the working group conduct a series of mini research projects looking at four risk factors for entanglements: how many whales and sea turtles are around, where whales are likely to forage, the number and locations of recorded entanglements, and information about fishermen, including their landing data, license numbers, and the locations of their traps. >cxlick to read< 08:35
In Newport, a coronavirus outbreak spreads to local economy
Pacific Seafood ceased operations at all five of its Newport plants. The Oregon Health Authority said the outbreak is contained to Lincoln County and that risk to the public is low. But Newport Mayor Dean Sawyer said most of those who tested positive are locals. The town’s economy is hurting again without a major fish buyer and supplier. And businesses are shutting back down to try to slow the spread of the virus. “They live here, they work here, they’re community-based people,” Sawyer said. “And, of course, the problem with that is that people live and work with people that work in other industries.” >click to read< 12:16
Coronavirus: Restaurant Closures Put Oregon Seafood Industry In Limbo
Commercial fisherman Clint Funderburg should be on the ocean right now, catching Dungeness crab on his fishing boat, the Widgeon. When crab prices tanked a few weeks ago, he shifted gears to his off-season side gig. So, he’s building a refrigeration system for one of the many fishing boats that are stuck at the dock right now. Mandatory restaurant closures during the coronavirus pandemic have sent shock waves through Oregon’s $700 million seafood industry. The overwhelming majority of the seafood that lands on Oregon’s docks gets eaten in restaurants, and no one knows when that market will return. In the meantime, fishermen are parking their boats as seafood prices plummet. >click to read< 18:04
Coronavirus undercuts Port of Astoria’s progress
Will Isom, the Port’s executive director, has focused on low-cost projects that benefit the agency and keep staff busy during a massive drop-off in business caused by the coronavirus.,, Bornstein and Da Yang seafood companies, which employ hundreds of people processing, freezing and shipping catch on Pier 2, have so far kept operating while checking workers’ temperatures, increasing sanitation and enacting more social distancing. “It is a constant concern and effort,” said Andrew Bornstein, co-owner of Bornstein Seafoods with his family. “We have installed partitions, spaced out lines, broken up lunch and dinner breaks to have less people in the lunchroom at a time.” Commercial Dungeness crab prices were already hurt by China’s travel restrictions and ban of live-animal imports during the coronavirus outbreak. >click to read< 09:31
Coronavirus: Yaquina Bay fishing continues despite market disruptions
As part of the food-production chain, commercial fishing is considered an essential industry, but even though fishermen based out of Newport’s Yaquina Bay are still on the job, they have felt the impact of the current market disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.,, “Some crabbers are still trying to stick it out, others have probably called it earlier than they normally would,” Buell added. “There still is some effort happening, for sure. It’s kind of hard to keep up with everything, but it sounds like the Chinese markets may be opening back up a little bit, so they’re able to start moving some live crab there, which is helping.” >click to read< 07:47
Crab season continues as whale entanglement risk remains low
From a California Department of Fish and Wildlife release: The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is providing the following important update on the status of the commercial California Dungeness crab fishery which includes the Northern Management Area (Fish and Game Districts 6, 7, 8 and 9) and Central Management Area (Fish and Game Districts 10 and south). more, >click to read< 09:42
Dungeness crab: Central California numbers rise to average of five times that of past decades
Fishermen from California to Washington caught almost all the available legal-size male Dungeness crab each year in the last few decades. However, the crab population has either remained stable or continued to increase, according to the first thorough population estimate of the West Coast Dungeness stocks. “The catches and abundance in Central California especially are increasing, which is pretty remarkable to see year after year,” The secret to the success of the Dungeness crab fishery may be the way fishing regulations protect the crab populations’ reproductive potential. >click to read< 14:34
California: Fewer Whales Entangled As Crab Fishermen Face Financial Struggle
Crab fishers are frustrated by recent closures, and CDFW is working with stakeholders and fishermen to come up with an economic plan that can help fishers deal with the changing industry. “We are seeing that the closures affect smaller operators disproportionately,”,,, Dick Ogg is a commercial fisherman out of Bodega Bay, California. His single-boat company is considered a medium-sized operation in the area because he catches many species. In addition to crabbing, Ogg shifts with the seasons to fish salmon, black cod, and albacore as well. This allows him to have income throughout the year. He humbly calls himself a “newbie”, having only been a commercial fisherman for 21 years. >click to read< 07:05
First month of Dungeness crabbing disappointing
Crabbing season is off to a slow start in Crescent City and Brookings, Ore. “We’ve had a lot of bad weather, not too many days out fishing,”,, Fishermen were anxious to begin crab fishing when the season opened on Dec. 31, after being delayed twice due to the crab quality. So far, the season has been disappointing, yielding a low overall poundage of crabs, according to Crescent City Harbor Commissioner Rick Shepherd and Burkman. It is not the worst year Crescent City and Brookings has seen, but it’s certainly not the best. >click to read< 11:55
2019 was highest value year on record for Dungeness crab in Southeast Alaska
5.3 million pounds of Dungeness crab were harvested, which is the third highest harvest on record. Yet, the price averaged $3.07 a pound making it the highest valued season ever recorded for Southeast. The previous record for the most valuable year was in 2002. Seven million pounds were harvested but the price was only $1.25 per pound back then. >click to read< 18:54
Crabbing commences: Rich fishery attracts out-of-area boats
“Just the excitement of it. There’s no quotas, may the best man win,” said F/V Nordic Fox captain Cub Jansen, 29, when asked about the appeal of the commercial Dungeness crab fishery. “It’s one of the last things you can do where hard work can really reward you.” Jansen, with crew Dru Rowe, Larry Bell, Cub Jansen, Mitch Clark and Raj Clark, was among several commercial skippers crabbing out of the Port of Ilwaco for the first time. 21 Photos. >click to read< 17:45
