Saving Seafood

CALIFORNIA: San Francisco area crabbers end holdout, move to “organized start”

January 12, 2021 — First came whales, then came a price most West Coast Dungeness crabbers deemed too low to fish for, but after nearly two months of having their gear at the ready, San Francisco area fishermen finally set their pots Monday, 11 January, at 8 a.m. They will begin hauling on Wednesday, 13 January, at the same time, under an “organized start” – agreed to by fleets out of Half Moon Bay, San Francisco, and Bodega Bay – to prevent a mad dash, shotgun start once a price had been agreed to.

“Holy Christ has this season been a mess,” Dick Ogg, who runs the F/V Karen Jeanne out of Bodega Bay, said. “But the fleet has really come together. If this works, which it looks like it will, it will be pretty amazing and will have a lasting imprint on the fleet.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

California commercial crab price strike ends

January 11, 2021 — The commercial crabbing fleet has ended its strike and will start soaking traps in the ocean on Monday, with fresh crab likely appearing in markets by Thursday afternoon, a local industry leader said Saturday.

Wholesale buyers and negotiators for crabbers in California and Oregon finally agreed Friday on an opening price for the coveted crustaceans after nearly three weeks of stalemate.

But the late agreement, following a 5½-week delay because of whales that were still feeding in the fishing grounds well after the traditional Nov. 15 season start, means the fleet already has missed the key Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s markets.

Fishers also had to settle for less than the $3 a pound they had hoped to secure for the initial landings, instead agreeing to $2.75 per pound, said Dick Ogg, vice president of the Bodega Bay Fishermen’s Marketing Association.

Read the full story at The Press Democrat

North Bay crabbers caught in price battle with wholesalers

December 23, 2020 — Eggnog? Check. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire? Sure, if you’re into that. But don’t bet on landing any Dungeness crab this holiday season.

“Unless a miracle happens, which is highly unlikely, we won’t see crab for Christmas,” said Tony Anello, a veteran fisher who runs his boat, the Annabelle, out of Bodega Bay and offers up his tender product at Spud Point Crab Co.

After several years of varied setbacks and more than a month of delays to the 2020 Dungeness season, local crabbers now face a new hurdle as they haggle over price with large wholesalers. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife had reset the season’s start date to Wednesday, offering a glimmer of hope to those who have made fresh crab part of their annual holiday ritual. But few boats were heading out to set traps on Tuesday.

“We should be traveling right now,” Dick Ogg, another icon of the local Dungeness harvest, said Monday from behind a shopping cart at Costco. “I’m here grabbing stuff in case something happens this afternoon. We would normally anchor up, set up all the bait cups and be ready. Then (Tuesday), right at 6:01 (a.m.), we’d start setting gear.”

But Monday did not bring resolution. At 3 p.m. that day, representatives of the major fishing ports in Northern California spoke by phone with executives of Pacific Seafood, one of the West’s largest seafood wholesalers. A couple hours later, the company engaged in a separate call with a wider range of fishers stretching up the Oregon coast.

Read the full story at The Press Democrat