February 6, 2018 — The North Coast commercial crab season had an “alarming” start for the Coast Guard this past weekend, with two search-and-rescue missions in Humboldt Bay being conducted including one where a search was suspended for a missing crabber who fell overboard.

“Essentially we’ve had two search-and-rescue cases in two days of the crab season,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Sarah Wilson said Monday morning. “That’s always alarming for us.”

The first hauls of the North Coast crab season began Monday morning.

Eureka crab fisherman Aaron Newman of the vessel Maria Isabel was heading back to the Humboldt Bay jetty on Monday afternoon to unload at Caito Fisheries, one of the local processing facilities in Eureka.

“It appears to be kind of spotty,” Newman said describing the first day’s catch. “Not everyone is catching crabs, but there definitely are some spots.”

Read the full story at the Eureka Times-Standard