Toxin prompts US state to shutdown bayside commercial crabbing

Recreational crab harvesting has been halted on the southern coast of Oregon to recreational fishers, with authorities citing high toxin levels as the reason behind the shutdown.

Running from Heceta Head to the Californian border, the closure also effects commercial crabbing within bay areas of the state; crabs are not to be harvested in estuaries and near to docks, piers and jetties in the cordoned areas, reports KGW News.

No decision has been made at this time regarding whether authorities will open the coastal crab season by its designated time on 1 December. Neighboring-state California decided to put its Dungeness crab season on hold due to unsafe levels of domoic acid, while Washington to the north is waiting to hear back on tests before it makes a decision about its impending crab season.

Commercial and recreational crabbing along Oregon’s northern coast remains un-shuttered. However, Oregon's Agriculture Department recommends that crab guts be promptly removed and discarded before ingestion.

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