With the season ending this month, the harvest volume of Oregon Dungeness crab is more than the historic average — but the real story this year is the price.
The 2010-2011 season got off to a late start but still resulted in an above-average haul; by mid-July, the harvest total had reached 21 million pounds.
According to the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission Executive Director Nick Furman, the past decade has seen harvests soar. He points mainly to favorable ocean conditions resulting in higher survival rates as the main reason for the increase.
And fishermen are getting more than 25 cents more per pound in 2011.
“Last year the 23.1 million pounds total value was USD 44.6 million and this year the total value of the 21 million pounds is right at USD 46 million,” says Furman. “It’s reflected in the average price, if you look at last year the average price was USD 1.93 per pound for the season. There were a lot of landings early on, when the price was low, so that kept the average price for the season down. This year the average price is USD 2.18 per pound for the season.”
As for wholesale prices, frozen, whole, cooked product is fetching up to USD 4.50 for 1 1/2- to 2-pound crabs and up to USD 4.60 for 2 to 2 1/2-pound crabs.
