Nov 17, 2008 2:11 am US/Pacific
SF's Crab Season Begins Amid Weak Expectations
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS) ―
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A Dungeness crab at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.
The Dungeness crab season began over the weekend in the San Francisco Bay area amid worries of a smaller catch than usual, fishermen said.
Fishermen could legally begin harvesting Dungeness crabs and bring them to market, but the fisherman stacking their pots at Fisherman's Wharf and elsewhere were not expecting a reversal of their poor fortunes from last season. Early indications pointed to a weak crab harvest.
"We're not expecting much this year," Tony Anello, who owns Spud Point Crab Co. at Bodega Bay and operates a commercial boat, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "The numbers just do not seem to be there."
Anello was one of three fishermen from Bodega Bay last week who were contracted by the state to collect a sampling of Dungeness from waters between Point Reyes in Marin County and Salt Point in Sonoma County.
The Dungeness population generally fluctuates in a five- to seven-year cycle. After several banner seasons, last year's numbers were down, state biologists said.
Many Bay Area seafood wholesalers and restaurants have offered live Dungeness crab for nearly three weeks, after arriving from an early commercial season in Washington's Puget Sound.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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