Fresh, local Dungeness crab will be here for Christmas!
After weeks of delay, due to the presence of migrating whales off the Central California coast, Monterey Bay’s Dungeness crab season is set to open Thursday, Dec. 16.* This means fresh-caught crab harvested by local fishermen and women will be available for the holidays. Delays kept local Christmas crab off dinner tables last year, so be sure to indulge in this California culinary tradition this year!
The California commercial Dungeness crab season is annually slated to start Nov. 15, but that date has been delayed in recent years. Between 2015 and 2017, California’s Dungeness and rock crab fisheries were impacted by toxic algal blooms that spurred closures to protect public health. Since 2019, the season has been delayed each year because of the presence of migrating whales off the California coast.
Dungeness crab pots stacked a dock about to be loaded on a fishing vessel.
These closures have a significant economic and social impact on fishing communities. When a season is delayed or ends early, fishermen, who have heavily invested in permits and crab fishing gear, can face severe financial losses. Some are forced to retool their boats to catch other species if they have invested in the necessary permits. More often, fishermen are left tied up at the docks, waiting for the season to open. Since November and December are usually the most lucrative time for Dungeness crab fishermen due to the Thanksgiving and Christmas markets, these delays are especially tough for our local fleet.
Climate change and changes in migration patterns have pushed whales closer to shore where they have come into contact with crab pot lines and other fishing gear in recent years. This led to an unfortunate spike in whale entanglements from 2015-2017, during the same time warm water led to the algal blooms.
Since then, California commercial crab fishermen have been working closely with regulators and conservationists to ensure their gear is whale-safe. In the first year of the spike, the California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group was created by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, in partnership with California Ocean Protection Council and National Marine Fisheries Service, to bring commercial fishermen together with scientists and regulators to find ways to prevent whale entanglements in fishing gear.
Through this process, fishermen have accepted pot limits and developed best practices, which include reducing buoy and trailer lines, moving toward neutral buoyancy rope, and setting gear with proper line lengths, so there’s no slack in the water. Fishermen also participate in lost gear recovery at the end of the season to ensure no pot is left behind. The Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust manages this program locally.
Our local fishermen and women are doing all they can to ensure the Dungeness crab fishery is whale-safe. So be sure to support their efforts by enjoying locally caught Dungeness crab over the holidays. Check out our Local Catch Guide to find the restaurants, fish markets, and seafood counters that offer this West Coast delicacy.
*If you’re wondering why you’ve already seen Dungeness crab at local markets and restaurants, it’s because the season opened earlier in other ports in California. Those crabs come from outside of Monterey Bay. We think it’s great to support all California fishermen, but if you really want to support our local economy, be sure to ask for Monterey Bay crab after Dec. 16.