Quality questions

Conflicting reports leave commercial crab fishers with  doubts about catch

Ken Strombeck of the Crescent City fishing vessel Resolution prepares some crab pots for the start of the season. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

A minute after midnight on Wednesday is when fishermen can retrieve their first pulls of the season, but it remains to be seen if those pulls will be as valuable as possible.

“The test pots we put out didn’t look exceptional,” said Pete Kalvass, senior marine biologist for the Department of Fish and Game. “They looked more like an average year.”

Test pots were dropped in the waters near Crescent City, Eureka and Trinidad, Kalvass said.

Pots weren’t dropped in Fort Bragg, a port where test pots are normally dropped near.

“Those are supposed to be representative,” said Kalvass. “But it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to the vast area.”

Body meat of crabs from the three ports were averaged out, which showed the crabs were at least 25 percent meat.

The DFG finds a crab’s meat-mass average by dropping crab pots in representative areas of North Coast shores, then collecting the crabs caught and draining them.

They are weighed for a total weight. Then the crabs are boiled and the meat is picked out.

The meat is  weighed and compared to the total weight of the crabs.

Stacks of crab pots surround the docks at Crescent City Harbor as crab fishermen prepare their boats for the start of the commercial crab season on Dec. 1. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

While the crabs may have averaged out to a 25-percent yield, some fishermen with boats tied up at Crescent City Harbor said this week the crabs are soft, so the season should have been delayed.

“Some of them are soft and we shouldn’t be opening yet,” said Bill Debecker, owner of the SHE’n’I. “It’s like picking nuts or apples. You don’t want to pick them until they’re ripe.”

A two-week delay for the North Coast’s crab season would have allowed time for shells to harden on molting crabs, fishermen say.

“Whatever they do is fine with me because we’ll be getting crabs from San Francisco,” said Wayne Gavin, manager of Alber Seafood Co.

Alber workers have been processing 70,000–80,000 crabs per day from the Central Coast since Nov. 17, Gavin said. The commercial crab season opened on Nov. 15 in that region.

Soft crabs could translate into low buying prices set by processors, or it could leave some fishermen with crabs they can’t sell because the processors won’t buy poor quality crabs.

“I’m sure we won’t buy if the crabs are soft,” said Gavin. “But we’re not going to know until we get the first pulls.”

Reports of soft crabs from the fishermen are contrasted by reports of quality crabs from recreational anglers, so there is no true indication of the actual quality of the crustaceans, Gavin said.

A delay also would have given local fishermen an exclusive 30-day window to crab the waters before any outside vessels could encroach on the North Coast, which would include Crescent City captains who chose to capitalize on an earlier start date off the Central Coast, Harbormaster Richard Young said.

Some fishermen that were anticipating a delay decided to stay in Crescent City rather than ply the waters south to the Central Coast.

“A lot stayed here under the impression it was going to be delayed,” said Josh Mims, a deckhand for the Spirit of America. “I guess that’s the risk you take.”

Those fishermen from Crescent City that did take the risk of being locked out of the North Coast for 30 days to go south could be reaping the benefits, where it’s shaping up to be a record year, Kalvass said.

“They’re getting lots of crabs on multiple pulls,” said Kalvass, referring to fishermen in the Central Coast. “The second and third pulls are still bringing up lots of crabs. It could be a bigger year there.”

Considering fishermen earn around 80 percent of what they’ll make for the whole season in the first two weeks of crab season, when the season opens on the North Coast Dec. 1, fishermen trekking up from the Central Coast will apparently have two starts to the most important part of a single season.

Fishermen who chose to wait to see how things unfolded on the North Coast will have more pots they will have to compete against at a time when the DFG should have allowed more time for the crabs to mature, harbor fishermen said.

“The Department of Fish and Game really dropped the ball on this one,” said Brett Fanning, owner of the Mary Lou.

Since it’s difficult for fishermen to come to a universal agreement to wait, the DFG is needed to step in to regulate the season, fishermen said.

“You all have to stay in or you all have to go out,” said Young, referring to fishermen.

“If you’re not taking care of business then you are losing out,” he said, adding that even if only one fishermen goes out, it behooves the rest of the fleet to follow suit in order to not fall behind.

Introducing poor quality crab into the market, even a minor percentage, can diminish the whole market rate, said Young.

At 2 p.m. Friday, representatives of Alber Seafood said there wasn’t a price set yet.

Gavin said that processors typically follow the price Pacific Choice sets, which is the largest processor on the West Coast.

Pacific Choice could not be reached for comment Friday.

Gavin expected earlier in the week for prices to be set this weekend.

Effects of catching poor-quality crab stretches further than a fisherman’s pocket book.

“If you put a bad quality product on the market, you not only damage this year’s price but the consumer’s perception as well,” said Young. “You’ve got to make sure you have a good product.”

Young echoed the sentiments of Gavin and Kalvass in saying that the quality of the crabs won’t be determined until just after midnight on Wednesday.

“You never really know until you go out there and start turning pots over,” said Young.

A lower price for crabs means less income generated for people that solely rely on fishing, which affects their spending habits in the community, Young said.

“If the harbor has a good season it’ll help everyone in town,” said Mims.

Fishermen will be more likely to frequent restaurants and spend money in Del Norte, he added.

Price worries or not, the harbor is buzzing with activity as fishermen gear up for the upcoming season and the excitement is contagious, Young said.

“Once the guys start setting gear there’s a lot to see,” said Young.

Forklifts are milling around and boats are coming in the harbor, he added.

“It’s really exciting,”said Young. “It’s a real event there, not just for the harbor, but the whole community.”

Young invites people to come check out all of the preparation,  but to be sure to stand at a vantage point that is not getting in the way of the fishermen.

At 64 hours before the start of the season, fishermen are able to set their pots.

Sunday at 8 a.m., boats will be navigating Crescent City’s coastline, which provides a great spectacle, especially at night, Young said.

“If you drive to Enderts Beach at night you’ll see the whole fleet from up there,” said Young.

He gave kudos to the fishermen for how hard they work to earn a living.

They work around the clock in the opening weeks of the season, with minimal sleep, if any, for days on end, Young said.

“Everybody gets wore out,” said Young. “I admire how hard these guys work.”