After multiple delays, local Dungeness crab should show up in Sonoma Valley grocery stores today, Friday, Jan. 15.
Why so late? Why so indefinite?
Originally supposed to open Nov. 15, the commercial crab season was postponed three times by the presence of whales off shore. If there are 20 or more humpback whales off the Pacific Coast within crab-fishing distance, the fishers and the state can agree to postpone the commercial crabbing season, while sports fishers could go ahead and catch what they could.
So there was no commercial crab fishing from the Mendocino Coast to Mexico until this week, two months later than usual.
Predictably, the longer crabbing was postponed, the bigger the crabs would grow.
While crab fishers could actually could drop their pots on Sunday, high seas were predicted so they waited until this Monday or Tuesday, and first pulled them out on Wednesday.
The last launch date was Dec. 23. This latest delay was due to price negotiations, not whales. Crabbers wanted $3.30 per pound, and wholesalers only wanted to pay $2.35. They ended up at $2.75 a pound, although there is speculation that the price will go up almost immediately.
The reason? Crabbers say that the haul is smaller than usual, but there is more meat in each crustacean than usual― in other words, supply and demand.
Most local grocery stores hope to get a supply of Dungeness crab by Jan. 15.
As of Jan. 12, the Sonoma Safeway and Lucky markets didn’t have a date for when they’d have crab on offer; Whole Foods and Sonoma Market are expecting to offer crab Jan. 15.
The Link LonkJanuary 15, 2021 at 07:06AM
https://ift.tt/3oLpmBS
Crab scuttling into markets soon - Sonoma Index-Tribune
https://ift.tt/2MkGRbk
Crab
No comments:
Post a Comment