Oregon crabbers prepare for catch
Published 9:00 pm Monday, November 27, 2006
COOS BAY, Ore. – It looks like dungeness crab season is going to kick off on time this year.
The crab harvest usually begins on Dec. 1, but some people were sweating this year’s decision after the last season was delayed until January.
“The tests all look good so far,” Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission interim administrator Hugh Link said.
The crabs have to be tested to determine if there is enough meat to ensure their harvestability; early signs indicate it will be fine.
Tests on Nov. 18 found that crab on the central and southern Oregon Coast showed meat recovery rates above 24.5 percent – only a half-percent shy of what is needed.
But the commission and the industry are still waiting for results of domoic acid testing, to make sure they are within the tolerable range.
The season already has a few wrinkles though.
Crabbers are in the midst of negotiations with processors for a price.
Many fisherman are hoping for a price equal to what central California crabbers received when their season opened this month: $1.85 a pound. But prices for crab in years past from Washington, Oregon and Northern California are often a dime or two less than what those crabbers receive.
If price negotiations go well, the first crab will likely be delivered to local processors at the beginning of December.
The industry also narrowly missed an expansion of the number of crab pots they can use.
State rules limit fishermen to 500, 300 or 200 crab pots. But a group of fishermen known as Fishermen Against Irresponsible Reallocation Inc. had protested the process the Oregon Fish and Wildlife commission used to set the limits.
The court disagreed. The group asked for the limits to be suspended until the case was resolved. But an Oregon Court of Appeals decided against their appeal last week.
