Point Reyes Light - December 9, 2004
Out-of-state fishermen vie with local crabbers
By Jim Kravets
State biologists predicted a healthy dungeness crab season, but West Marin’s rich coastal waters attracted out-of-state competition that left some local fisherman disgruntled.
North Coast fishermen, while pleased about the healthy harvest, complain about out-of-state competition from large Oregon- and Washington-based fishing boats.
"They come down here and vacuum up the crab, and it hurts all the local fishermen," fisherman George Nunez who owns Point St. Joseph Fish Company at Chimney Rock in Drakes Bay told The Light.
Nunez said he has five 35-foot boats with about 100 crab traps each. Locals, in their smaller boats with fewer crab traps, are basically out-gunned, he said.
"Normally there’s around 12 to 14 [Oregon and Washington boats] in Drakes Bay. This year, on opening day there were 35 of them!" Nunez said, noting that the larger boats often carry 1,000 crab pots each.
The larger boats have moved on, leaving Drakes Bay to head further north up the coast where the commercial crab season starts two weeks later.
Harvest already ‘above average’
The combined catch last year from Marin, Sonoma and San Francisco waters was the best for the region since 1958, and state Fish and Game biologist Tom Moore said his agency predicts this season will be another good year. Three weeks into the season, the dungeness crab catch is already above average, Moore said.
Biologists said one theory for the abundance is the reduced number of coho salmon off coastal California. Coho feed on dungeness crab when crab are in their "megalope" or larval stage. In this stage of their lifecycles, Moore explained, the crustaceans look somewhat like plankton.
"But fishermen and biologists have a lot of theories," Moore cautioned.
Crab season now open
Crabs are caught in California from the Oregon border to near Avila in San Luis Obispo County. The crustaceans are most commonly found in waters ranging to a depth of about 300 feet.
The sport fishing (as opposed to commercial fishing) season for the crabs opened Nov. 6 from Sonoma County south and is scheduled to run through June 30. For Del Norte, Humboldt, and Mendocino counties, the sport season opened on Nov. 27, and is also scheduled to run through July 30.
The state Department of Fish and Game limits the daily take to 10 crabs per sport-licensed fisherman. Size restrictions also exist. Those wanting to know the relevant regulations can check the department’s website at <www.dfg.ca.gov> or call the Bodega Bay field office at 707 875-4260.
The average commercial catch of dungeness crab in Marin and Sonoma’s coastal waters are 600,000 pounds, according to data from Fish and Game. Last year the commercial catch was near-record setting, said Moore, noting that 1.4 million pounds were caught in 2003-04 season alone. "That volume was worth $2.3 million dollars," Moore added.
Crabbing peaked to 25-year highs in the ‘90s with 1.6 million pounds caught in the 1994-95 and 1997-98 seasons in the coastal waters of Marin and Sonoma counties.
By contrast, one of the worst seasons on record was 1992-93 when the catch was only 86,000 pounds.
"It can really vary from season to season," Moore said.
From the fisherman to the fishmonger
Inverness fisherman Nunez sells his catch to buyers in San Francisco as well as the Palace Market in Point Reyes Station. He said he usually gets $1.50 per pound from wholesale buyers for dungeness crab, down from $2 per pound last year.
For those who don’t want to catch their own, the Palace Market sells dungeness crab three ways: cooked, cleaned, and cracked for $5.99 per pound; whole cooked for $4.99 per pound; and live crabs are $3.99 per pound.
Steve Cox, Palace Market meat manager, said live crabs are especially popular among local residents.
"Locals like to cook crabs themselves," he said.