Deadliest Catch?
Looks like the Dungeness debate will be heating up again, just in time for Thanksgiving. According to the Chronicle, two Oregon-based fishing boats caught a massive (100,000 lb) crab haul near the Farallones, unloaded it in Monterey (San Francisco is still closed to crab boats) sold it to wholesaler Royal Seafood, which is trucking it up to San Francisco right now.
The waters in the bay and just off the coast from Marin to about Half Moon Bay are closed to all kinds of fishing in the wake of the Cosco Busan oil spill, but further offshore, the crabbing grounds are open. Local crabbers, however, have been refusing to drop pots, saying they want to wait until the crab is tested by the state. From the Chron:
"The whole thing is totally disheartening," said Larry Collins, president of the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association. "We're trying to do the right thing here. We need to know the crab are safe before they get to the buyers and consumers."
The local crabbers are worried that if consumers get sick from contaminated crab early in the season, nobody will want to buy the catch at all later or anytime. According to the article, one Half Moon Bay crabber brought back a small catch, and was met at the dock by other local crabbers, who bought the catch and set it free on the condition the guy refrain from fishing until the state gives the all clear.
We wonder if they'll try the carrot or the stick with the Oregon guys.
A huge catch of crab off the Farallones is offloaded in Monterey [San Francisco Chronicle]
