After a month-long delay, Oregon officials announced a new opening date for the commercial Dungeness crab season – all activities will kick off on 4 January, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced.
Commercial crabbers will be permitted to start gearing up their vessels on 1 January in advance of the fishery’s opening. The decision to open the crabbing season came after recent tests determined that the previously elevated levels of demoic acid found in crabs caught off of the state’s lower coast were decreasing and well below U.S. Food and Drug Administration alert levels for three samples in a row, the ODFW noted to The Statesmen Journal.
After consulting with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the Oregon commercial crab industry, and the Washington and California Departments of Fish and Wildlife, the ODFW thought it best to launch the season close to the start of the new year.
“Along with the state agencies, the Oregon commercial Dungeness crab industry has taken a very proactive and precautionary approach to the opening of this crab season in the interest of public safety,” Caren Braby, ODFW marine resources program manager, said in a news release.
Dungeness crab catches have garnered Oregon USD 5 million (EUR 4.56 million) to USD 44 million (EUR 40.1 million) per year, making it the state’s most valuable species, according to the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission.
