Dungeness crab season on hold again, fishermen losing out big

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. - Dungeness crab season is on hold again.

There are a lot fewer fishing boats at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay these days.

The boats that are there are not getting much action because, according to the fishermen KTVU spoke with, the current restrictions are making it hard for them to make a profit.

A high number of migrating humpback whales and a recently confirmed leatherback sea turtle--the largest turtle in the world--being caught in Dungeness crab fishing gear, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, has caused the state to prevent crab traps from being used once again.

"Absolutely criminal 'cause they’re not solving the problem by keeping us tied to the dock," Matthew Paul, who has been crabbing along the California coast for four decades told KTVU.

For the last 5 years, he has been impacted by the same restrictions hurting his livelihood.

"We’re so far financially going into ruin, I might as well just go fishing," Paul said. "What are they going to do, take the boat? Take the boat. You don’t let me make a living anyway."

In a typical season, he goes crabbing for around 40 days, filling his boat with crabs.

But this is the third delay this season, which should’ve started in mid-November.

Sitting at the dock, he’s missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"That’s about six bucks to the public," Rick Hauschel explained the price of a crab held in his hands, after lifting one out of a tank on his boat, the Polaris.

Hauschel has been fishing commercially since 1988.

The Polaris is a million-dollar investment, but Hauschel is treading water with rising overhead costs.

Hauschel specializes in catching multiple types of fish, but crab makes up about 25 percent of his annual profit.

"This whole dock, that whole dock, that whole dock," Hauschel pointed in different directions at the marina, "Everybody’s pinching pennies trying to get by right now."

Fishermen said with fewer Bay Area boats bringing in crabs, it means more of the crab you buy may come from up north, including Washington State or even Canada.

Hauschel is relying on savings to stay afloat.

"We need to get it where the environmental group is not the ones running the show here," Hauschel said. 

Hoop nets and crab snares are still allowed by the state during the temporary trap restriction, but the crabs can go in and out of them, unlike the traps that trap them inside.

The result is that far fewer crabs are caught, so the fishermen feel trapped too.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife will do its next risk assessment on Dec. 21.

But the fishermen KTVU heard from, don’t think they will be allowed to use their traps until sometime in January, if they are lucky.