World Photo by Susan Chambers Two crab boats, the Sea Clipper and the Miss Sarah, are side-tied at Hallmark Fisheries in Charleston on Tuesday, and loaded down with crab pots. Commercial fishermen could have set their gear in the ocean today but still are negotiating with processors over prices.

CHARLESTON - Fishery managers say the commercial Dungeness season is a go, but crabbers and processors are at an impasse.

Fishermen along the West Coast held another conference call Tuesday evening, but no boats are untying from the docks to set gear.

“We're at an impasse,” Charleston crabber Tom Nowlin said today.

At least one processor offered $1.60 a pound - but only after Jan. 1.

The offer on the table from most big processors is $1.40 if fishermen decide to fish right now.

Crabbers say that isn't enough and that they've received prices higher than that in years past, before the cost of fuel and bait went up dramatically.

Quality continues to be a concern to buyers and there are some spots on the coast that they're concerned about, primarily around Astoria, and California around Eureka and Trinidad. Most of the rest of the coast tested out at 25 percent meat recovery rate - the threshold for much of Oregon and California - and 23 percent or above, the level set for northern Oregon and Washington.

Crab from the Central California fishery already is working its way into local markets, but processors seem to be in no hurry to buy crab in December.

“It surprised us,” Nowlin said, noting that last year, when the season was delayed until January due to quality concerns, processors were worried about missing the holiday market for fresh, whole-cooked crab sales.

Hallmark Fisheries Production Manager Scott Adams said Tuesday that the fresh market is very competitive and that leads to a quandary for buyers. They can either sell more to the fresh market and risk losing sales or put more crab into sections and meat, two avenues that have seen steady sales in both retail and food service markets?

The good news is that the market is strong.

“More and more people are eating crab,” Adams said. “We just have to realize there are limits to how much you can sell at certain prices.”

Since the middle of November, crab from California and Washington's Puget Sound has been filling markets up and down the West Coast.

“So far, crab from San Francisco has been fairly nice - good, full crab - and we hope to have more.”

Nowlin said fishermen likely will talk with processors today about doing more quality tests to ensure that crab coastwide is ready for harvest. The only condition likely would be that processors pay more than $1.40 a pound if the crab is in good shape.

“We don't need the practice,” Nowlin said. “We already know how to catch crab.”