By DANA TIMES/YachatsNews.com
There could be crab for Christmas.
For the first time in seven years, Oregon’s $60 million commercial Dungeness crab fishery could start on time. Two unknowns – weather conditions and an as-yet-to-be negotiated price per pound – could still disrupt the fleet’s launch this week and first pulling of pots Dec. 1.
But at this point, with just days remaining before a fleet that numbers about 315 boats could head out to sea, industry watchers are downright jubilant.
That optimism stems from testing conducted this month which showed both high levels of quality meat in crabs harvested out of Oregon’s six major crabbing ports, and low amounts of a type of acid that can shut down crabbing.
“I can’t remember the last time the whole state passed both tests on the first round in terms of meat quality and acid levels,” Tim Novotny, communications manager for the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, said Monday. “We’ll have to do some digging around to find out the last time that happened.”
Last year, low meat levels delayed the opening of commercial crabbing from Cape Falcon (just north of Manzanita) south to the Oregon/California border until Dec. 16. At the same time, high levels of domoic acid pushed back crabbing from Cape Falcon north to the Oregon/Washington border until Feb. 15.
With the delays and poor crabbing last season, the Oregon fleet brought in 12.2 million pounds – the lowest level since the 2014-15 season. But with low catch numbers, processors ended up paying an average of $4.66 per pound – the highest so-called “ex-vessel value” in seven years – and the overall value reached to $60 million. Prices ranged from $3.86 in January to $9.51 in May.
Prospects for this year are brighter, according to industry members.
“It’s looking very much as if this season is going to get off to a great start,” said Lori Steele, executive director of the Portland-based West Coast Seafood Processors Association. “Everything we are seeing so far adds up to really great news.”
Commercial crab vessels can actually start setting gear Sunday during what is referred to as the “presoak period.” They can then initiate the first pull of ocean crab pots on Wednesday, Dec. 1 – if crabbers and processors agree on a price.
Still to be determined is how much the 31 licensed processors in Oregon will pay crabbers per pound for their catch.
Negotiations between processors and fishermen is under way, said Casey Prentiss, who works in the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s market access and certification program. Negotiations last year delayed fishing off the north Oregon coast until mid-January.
“We will have a much better idea of where things stand late this week or early next week,” he said. “We’re still waiting for information to come back to us.”
Prentiss said he only would get involved in helping supervise the negotiations if asked by the two sides to do so.
In terms of pre-season testing, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife uses razor clams and, to a lesser extent, mussels, as indicator species to determine if domoic acid levels are low enough to allow commercial crabbing.
Elevated domoic acid levels are associated with algae blooms, said Kelly Corbett, the department’s crab project leader. Those blooms, in turn, have been linked with warming ocean temperatures.
The increased frequency and duration of the blooms in recent years has definitely played a role in how and where crabs can be harvested, she said, with several closures ordered in areas found to be elevated domoic acid levels.
“Whether these blooms are causal in terms of rising ocean temperatures is still not known,” Corbett said. “But we will still keep testing razor claims every two to four weeks for domoic levels. If they appear to be elevated, we’ll then test crabs to determine if further action is needed.”
For now, assuming good weather, the fleet is gearing up to sail.
“I can’t say enough about how happy and excited we all are for a great season,” the crab commission’s Novotny said. “It’s been beyond expectations.”
- Dana Tims is an Oregon freelance writer who contributes regularly to YachatsNews.com. He can be reached at DanaTims24@gmail.com
