Dungeness crab season delayed in California until at least Dec. 31

The Dungeness crab fishing season will remain closed in California until at least Dec. 31, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Friday. 

Using crab traps for recreational fishing is also postponed in Zones 3 and 4, which includes Santa Cruz County. The next assessment will occur on or around Dec. 20 for a possible opener on New Year’s Eve. 

This is the third postponement for the 2024-25 season, and the sixth consecutive year that commercial Dungeness crab season has been delayed in California in order to prevent entanglements. Historically, the season off the central and southern California coasts began on Nov. 15 and the northern region would open on Dec. 1. The 2023-34 season opened on Jan. 18, 2024, after four postponements, and closed on April 8.

Oceana, an international nonprofit conservation organization, supports the delay. Whale entanglements are at a six-year high, it said in a media release, with four confirmed humpback whale entanglements in California Dungeness crab gear so far this year, including one confirmed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Monday. There have been another five entanglements in unidentified fishing gear in California, and a total of 34 whale entanglements off the entire West Coast. 

“Stronger measures are needed to bring entanglement numbers down and prevent this ongoing and unacceptable wildlife tragedy along the West Coast,” said Geoff Shester, Oceana’s senior scientist in California. Around 75% of entanglements are fatal. “It’s time to acknowledge that the current management system isn’t working.” 

The industry is currently testing pop-up crab pots, which are tracked using GPS systems and release a fishing line only when they are pulled out of the water, limiting the amount of time wildlife could come into contact with it. The pots are still in an experimental phase and are not widely used or available for most fishers. The soonest they could become available is spring 2026. 

People hoping to enjoy Dungeness crab at their holiday tables are going to have a hard time finding it in Santa Cruz County. A few markets plan to import Dungeness crab from Oregon or Washington, but others say they won’t bring it in until the season opens in California. 

H&H Fresh Fish Co., a sustainable seafood market that prioritizes locally caught fish, is sourcing Dungeness crabs from Washington state, where the fishing season is open, through December for the holidays. The demand is the highest through New Year’s, said co-owner Hans Haveman, and he and business partner Heidi Rhodes decided to have it for customers until California crab becomes available. 

But high demand has led to high prices from suppliers, said Haveman: Live crabs are $18 per pound, and cooked crabs are $24 per pound. Last spring, live Dungeness crab sold for around $9 per pound. Both live and cooked crabs are available at H&H’s market in the Santa Cruz Harbor. 

Ocean2Table, another environmentally focused supplier based in Santa Cruz, will wait until the season opens in California, said owner Ian Cole.  

Deluxe Foods of Aptos is unsure whether or not it will bring in non-local crabs during December, and Shopper’s Corner Market will probably have crabs from other areas available later this month, but it’s unsure from where. Staff of Life Markets will wait for the local season to open before it brings in Dungeness crab. 

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.