PORTLAND, Ore. — It's officially Dungeness crab season along parts of the Oregon coast.
While the start of the season is aimed for Dec. 1, it often comes a few weeks later. Each year, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife sets standards before allowing crabbers to set their pots off the coastline. This is all to ensure the crab is not just good to eat but also safe.
Bob Eder, who has been fishing for 50 years, said, "To me, I see these boats loaded with crab pots and it's like they're loaded with hope." He loves the opening of Dungeness crab season, even if it's a bit delayed.
"Earlier in my career, we didn't do this, and for a number of seasons, we went and harvested on Dec. 1. We could tell that the crabs weren't as good as they soon would be, but we caught most of them anyway," he recalled.
Michael Pettis is starting his 46th crabbing season.
"Sometimes when some areas are open and other areas aren't, the state gets cut into pieces," he said. "We start with an Oregon crab permit that lets us go anywhere from Astoria to Brookings, but when one area is good, and another area isn't, then you have to decide."
Pettis said the Oregon crabbing permit process can be frustrating: "Your crab permit now doesn't encompass the whole state. Now, it encompasses a section of the state, so that's difficult for guys to deal with. It would be nice if we could move around and go where the crabs are."
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife tests crabs from six major ports. They work with the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission and the Oregon Department of Agriculture to decide when to open for the season based on safe levels of biotoxins plus the size of crabs.
Francis Chan, an associate professor at Oregon State University, said scientists are always looking at how the temperature changes in the ocean can impact the risk of biotoxins.
He said the delay to the season is mainly to keep consumers safe.
"Even if it's a little warmer, it increases the likelihood that we might have the type of phytoplankton algae cells. These microscopic cells can produce toxins that get accumulated in crabs, so as the oceans change, there's a risk of that," Chan explained.
Currently, crabbers only have the greenlight for areas south of Depoe Bay, at Cape Foulweather to the California coast. Commercial crab fishing from Cape Falcon to the Washington border will remain closed heading into the new year. ODFW plans to test the crab again and are hopeful for an opening in mid-January or early February.