California’s Dungeness crab season is being delayed until at least January, dashing hopes — yet again — of crab on dinner plates on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The setback, which is due to the threat of fishing gear to whales, halts next month’s scheduled launch of commercial boats for crab fishing in waters between the Oregon border and Santa Barbara County, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced on Friday.
The state’s recreational season can proceed as scheduled on Nov. 7, but restrictions on trap numbers will be in place. The exception is a section of the coast off of Humboldt and Mendocino counties that will remain closed indefinitely.
Once a celebrated ritual reliably beginning at the cusp of the holidays and running into summer, the Dungeness fishing season has been regularly delayed or cut short for more than a decade. The reasons include: Whales and sea turtles have become entangled in fishing gear, elevated levels of the naturally occurring toxin domoic acid have been found in the ocean and crabbers and seafood buyers have failed to agree on prices…