Bay Area Dungeness crab fleet could fade away
SAN FRANCISCO - California’s commercial Dungeness crab fleet is finally selling its catch to consumers, albeit three-months late. This comes well after the peak holiday buying season has come and gone.
San Francisco’s colorful and once plentiful fishing fleet is one of the most romantic and fabled tourist attractions, right up there with the cable cars and the Golden Gate Bridge. But the fishing fleet continues to fade.
Fishing boat captain Matt Juanes is in his twelfth season. He's thrilled and very grateful that customers are coming to his boat, the Plumeria, to buy directly from him. "I tell to tell ever customer, 'Thank you for your support.' But, I really mean it. It's not just one of those things I just say," said Captain Juanes.
The customers appreciate that and his fortitude. "It's really tough for these people trying to make a living, I like to go to the farmer’s market and buy something. This is sort of an extension of that. So try to keep the local businesses thriving," said boat customer James Terry.
The three-month crab fishing and the cancelation of the salmon season delay is part of the modern captain-owner fisherman’s difficult and dangerous lot in life.
"It's not easy being a fisherman. You don't know when your next paycheck is gonna be, if there's gonna be a paycheck. You just invest thousands and thousands of dollars into it [so] that maybe you get to go fishing now," said Juanes.
His harvest is excellent food. It is a great tradition, and it is pure California." I want to keep being a fisherman because I've invested everything into it," said Juanes.
For decades, The Bay Area's crab season began early in November, lasting through June. Nine years ago, a huge domoic acid algae bloom delayed the harvest until February, and delayed the Dungeness crab season for nearly four months, bypassing the lucrative high demand holiday season.
Two years ago, to protect the growing population of migrating whales, state Fish and Wildlife officials began shortening the season. On the processor side, Thursday revealed a plentiful harvest as well. "But, this is the first day. The second or third day will tell; give us a little more idea of what's gonna happen and how long it gonna last," said Safe Coast Seafoods General Manager Max Boland.
Processor Boland worries about the future of Bay Area fishermen and women. "The way I look at it: in the next 10 years or so, with the whale population continuing to increase, it's gonna be tough. I have this feeling sometimes, I feel like they're gonna shut this area down," said Boland.
In 1999, California had 688 licensed crab boats. By 2018, it was down to 544, a 26% drop. With Covid, inflation, delays and cancelations, that number, fishermen tell me, it is considerably less and fading.
That left customer James Terry to say this, "You know, keep this part of San Francisco's history.
By next week we will know how good what's left of the season looks to be.