On Friday, December 7th, the coastal Dungeness Crab Tri-State policy representatives from the Oregon, Washington and California Departments of Fish and Wildlife agreed to continue the delay in the opening of the 2018-19 Coastal Dungeness crab fishery from Point Arena California, north to the US/Canada border through at least December 30, 2018.
Recreational crabbing is also closed from Cape Blanco Oregon, to the California border due to domoic acid levels.
The decision was based on crab condition tests conducted by the Oregon, Washington and California Departments of Fish and Wildlife agencies which shows that some test areas in each state still do not currently meet the minimum meat recovery criteria.
The Tri-State Dungeness Crab Pre-Season Testing Protocols specify that after the second round of testing if any area does not meet the minimum meat recovery criteria (23% north of Cascade Head and 25% south of Cascade Head) a delay is required and additional testing is required before a season-opening date can be confirmed.
A second-round meat recovery testing is targeted to be completed before December 21st. Additional information regarding the season-opening date will be released as soon as possible following the completion of the upcoming tests.
In partnership with the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, the second round of Oregon preseason Dungeness crab quality and domoic acid testing was conducted coast wide during November 29th thru December 3rd and domoic acid has been found to be elevated in southern Oregon and northern California.
Please Like, Share and Follow the …
