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Dungeness crab season on schedule, prospects are meaty
Friday, October 31, 2008 | 1 comment(s)
WARRENTON (AP) — Test crabs have proven plump enough to give Oregon crews hope that the lucrative Dungeness crab season will begin on the traditional date, Dec. 1.
Test crab recently harvested along the coast contained enough meat to justify an on-time start, said a state official.
“If I were a betting man, I’d bet the farm we’ll start the fishery Dec. 1, providing there’s no problem with domoic acid,” said Brandon Ford, public information officer for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Everybody is where they should be.”
Domoic acid is a biotoxin that can affect shellfish, and if that doesn’t crop up, the last hurdle would be negotiations between fishermen and processors on a starting price for the crab.
Bargaining begins Nov. 12 in Newport.
The Dungeness season usually lasts from Dec. 1 to Aug. 14, but the opening can be delayed if the crab quality is poor.
The crab testing involves a “meat recovery rate” in legal-size male Dungeness crabs.
There are two standards along the coast, and state officials reported that tests showed the meat recovery rate close to or above the standards at several spots.
The meat recovery rate tells biologists and crab marketers alike how plump the crab have gotten since their last molting.
More meat means better quality and better market value for everyone in the fishery.
The ocean commercial Dungeness crab fishery is the most valuable single-species fishery in Oregon, worth more than $50 million.
Dungeness crab can live eight years or longer and reach a size of 9 inches or larger. They are sexually mature after their second year, but it takes about four years for them to grow to the legal harvest size.
Not harvesting the female crab or the sexually mature but undersized male crab protects the reproductive capacity of the species.
Nick Furman, director of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, a state-sponsored commodity marketing group, said the method has made the Dungeness fishery both successful and sustainable.
“We’ve been doing it for over 50 years and we’ve had record landings in the last four,” he said.
Test crab recently harvested along the coast contained enough meat to justify an on-time start, said a state official.
“If I were a betting man, I’d bet the farm we’ll start the fishery Dec. 1, providing there’s no problem with domoic acid,” said Brandon Ford, public information officer for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Everybody is where they should be.”
Domoic acid is a biotoxin that can affect shellfish, and if that doesn’t crop up, the last hurdle would be negotiations between fishermen and processors on a starting price for the crab.
Bargaining begins Nov. 12 in Newport.
The Dungeness season usually lasts from Dec. 1 to Aug. 14, but the opening can be delayed if the crab quality is poor.
The crab testing involves a “meat recovery rate” in legal-size male Dungeness crabs.
There are two standards along the coast, and state officials reported that tests showed the meat recovery rate close to or above the standards at several spots.
The meat recovery rate tells biologists and crab marketers alike how plump the crab have gotten since their last molting.
More meat means better quality and better market value for everyone in the fishery.
The ocean commercial Dungeness crab fishery is the most valuable single-species fishery in Oregon, worth more than $50 million.
Dungeness crab can live eight years or longer and reach a size of 9 inches or larger. They are sexually mature after their second year, but it takes about four years for them to grow to the legal harvest size.
Not harvesting the female crab or the sexually mature but undersized male crab protects the reproductive capacity of the species.
Nick Furman, director of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, a state-sponsored commodity marketing group, said the method has made the Dungeness fishery both successful and sustainable.
“We’ve been doing it for over 50 years and we’ve had record landings in the last four,” he said.
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