By Tracey Weiss, November 23, 2024
Santa Cruz Sentinel
For many of us, one of the dining delights of the holiday season is a feast of fresh crab caught right here in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Local fishermen and restaurants have long benefitted from the economic boom of holiday seafood sales and many locals relish the opportunity to enjoy a “homegrown” delicacy with visiting friends and family. The iconic Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister, or as they’re called on the dock, “Dungies,” live in nearshore waters from Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, all the way south to Point Conception, just north of Santa Barbara. Occasionally, Dungeness crabs are found as far south as Magdalena Bay in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Their name originates from the Port of Dungeness on the Olympic Peninsula, where they were first harvested commercially.