Crab fishing remained unsafe throughout most of the state until Thursday, when the California Department of Public Health declared all areas south of Point Reyes safe for recreational Dungeness crab fishing, but crab fishing remains prohibited in northern areas.
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If you’ve missed eating Dungeness crab for the past three months, your wait is over because the California Department of Public Health now allows those caught off the Bay Area coast to be eaten again, saying they are much safer than they were late a year ago when they were feared tainted with domoic acid – SFGate reports. She added that commercial season might open as early as the coming week.
Tom Mattusch, who operates a San Mateo County charter fishing operation, said Pillar Point Harbor will be a madhouse Friday as fishermen ready their traps and boats next to the staging area for the Titans of Mavericks big-wave surfing contest. Wildlife authorities delayed the local Dungeness crab season and closed the rock crab fishery for most of California on Thursday, just days after warning of risky levels of a neurotoxin linked to a massive algae bloom off the coast.
A joint fisheries committee got an update on the effects of the domoic acid contamination and its effects on the Dungeness crab fishery and it wasn’t good. Severe intoxification can be fatal.
Symptoms of domoic acid poisoning can occur within 30 minutes to 24 hours after eating toxic seafood.
This crab news comes with a fun and “not scary at all warning”, as health officials advise crab fans to remove the guts before cooking the crabs, boil or steam (rather than fried or broiled) and then discard their cooking water.
Because of continued elevated levels of domoic acid in crabs caught in those areas, the advisory remains in effect for Dungeness crab caught in state waters north of Latitude 38 00′ N and for rock crabs caught in state waters around Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, the San Miguel Islands and areas north of Latitude 35 40′ N (near Piedras Blancas Light Station, in San Luis Obispo County).
The late start to the Dungeness crab season will pose some problems for fishermen.
Fishermen and buyers will also have to settle on a price for crab.
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“I’m excited for the fishermen and the California season for crab, but as far as the pricing and the market, we’ll have to see how it goes”, DiGirolamo said.
