Crab season start up in the air

Dungeness crab fishing is one of the most dangerous fisheries, especially off the coast of California, and it’s also extremely important for local economies.

And while the start of commercial crab season may be up in the air due to early tests falling short of the required meat-to-shell ratio, U.S. Coast Guard representatives will still be dockside Thursday for commercial crab vessel safety checks.

Each year the DFG’s Marine Invert­ebrate Project tests the ratio of meat to shell because by law commercial crab season can’t start until that ratio is 25 percent.

If the season were to be delayed, local fishermen would have to once again tighten their belts after recent years of low crab harvests and no salmon fishing.

The first round of testing happened last week with crab traps set off Crescent City, Trinidad, Eureka and Fort Bragg.

The average percentage of meat to shell was 22.4 percent among the four areas, with Trinidad and Eureka crabs at 21.2 percent and 21.5 percent.

Crescent City crabs were 24.2 percent.

“It’s sort of an all or nothing deal,” said Pete Kalvass of the Marine Invertebrate Project. “The whole section from Point Arena to the Oregon border opens at the same time.”

Another test is required to determine if the North Coast crab population will reach the required plumpness by Dec 1.

“We will be testing again November 9th, 10th and 11th,” Kalvass said. “At that time we will have two data points, which will allow us to predict what things are going to look like come December.”

Kalvass did not think that the test results were unduly dire, or unusual.

“2006 looked very similar to this year,” Kalvass said. “And they filled out just fine. We’ve had to do second tests before.”

Part of the problem might be that the tests were performed earlier this year than last, Kalvass said.

“Generally speaking, if the tests are done earlier, they are more likely to run into this problem,” Kalvass said.

Uncertainty about when crab season is going to open will not postpone the upcoming commercial crab vessel safety checks, however.   

According to the Coast Guard, every year some California fishermen lose their lives during crab season, and crabbing vessels continue to have the highest fatality rate of any West Coast fishery.

Starting Thursday, the Coast Guard will be cruising the Crescent City docks to ensure that commercial vessels are as safe as possible.

 “This outreach effort is part of the Coast Guard’s “Operation Safe Crab,” an initiative started to reduce the loss of lives and fishing vessels in the West Coast crab fleet,” a Coast Guard press release states.

Since “Operation Safe Crab” began, Coast Guard personnel have walked West Coast docks each year prior to the season, spot-checking crab vessels for required lifesaving equipment and proper pot-loading practices that affect “stability and vessel watertight integrity.”

“We’ve definitely seen an increase in business,” said Englund Marine Supply Co. Manager Chris Hegnes. “We’ve had a lot of commercial crab fishermen getting ready for safety checks.”

Hegnes said the marine supply store has been seeing brisk business in Emergency Position Indicator Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) and flares, both of which are required safety gear for commercial crabbing vessels.

“We’ve also had a lot of life rafts getting repacked,” Hegnes said. “We’ll be shipping those out in a couple of days.”

The Coast Guard said the safety checks have greatly reduced the number of potential casualties.

“The previous year’s statistics show that nearly one-third of all emergency position indicating radio beacons and life rafts were installed incorrectly,” its press release stated. “This type of situation is easily corrected on the spot, and has helped prevent needless tragedies at sea for California’s crab fleet.”