Dawn of Crab Season

By MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT 12/2/2007

As Orion's Belt gave way to Saturday morning's first light, dozens of Bodega Bay fishermen started the traditional boat parade out of Spud Point Marina, their vessels stacked with baited crab pots.

Local fisherman Tim Wallinger, taking advantage of a break in the wind, set the "string" on the last of his first 100 crab pots just before 11 a.m.

Back at the docks, another 100 pots were ready for his return. It would be dark before he could get his second round of pots into waters that were expected to get rougher.

"It's laying back down, getting a little better," said Wallinger, who was reached by cell phone aboard his boat, the Virginia Sea.

Saturday morning's procession finally kicked off the local crab season -- two weeks late.

Windy weather could further delay the return of the boats and the pots filled with fresh crab, setting back the time for processing and meaning that crab lovers might not see iced crab behind store counters until late in the week.

Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, said the uncertainty makes it difficult for local crab processing operations to plan their production.

"This thing has been one day at a time, in fact it's been one hour at a time," he said.

The price being offered to fishermen up and down the coast for their crab is $2, about 50 cents less than what Bodega Bay fishermen would have gotten if the season had started two weeks ago, Grader said.

When the crab finally make it to local supermarkets, consumers can expect to pay "upwards of $7.99 or $8.99 pound," he said.

And for those who want crab in abundance and to take part in what has become a wintertime community ritual, there are at least eight crab feeds being offered in Sonoma County from this coming weekend through early March. The price per person is in the $40 range for all you can eat, and the profits often go to community services and charities.

Storm could delay catch

All of this was imperiled by the fuel oil spill in San Francisco Bay on Nov. 7, which brought all Bay Area commercial fishing to a stop. Now a storm front moving into the area is expected to bring near-gale winds and sea swells of up to 20 feet by Tuesday.

Wallinger, who set his gear about a mile and a half from the beach just above the mouth of the Russian River, said he probably wouldn't be able to reach his crab pots until Wednesday.

Chris Lawson, president of the Fisherman's Marketing Association of Bodega Bay, was able to set 180 crab pots by noon Saturday a couple of miles off Point Reyes. He said he wasn't sure if he'd be able to set the next load of 180 pots before the end of the day.

"It looks pretty good right now," said Lawson, also reached by cell phone. "But they're calling for crummy weather."

Extensive testing after spill

The trouble started for local fishermen last month when the Cosco Busan container ship struck a Bay Bridge support and spilled almost 60,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the bay. The spill triggered worries among crab consumers over whether the crustacean was safe to eat.

State Fish and Game officials tested more than 1,000 fish and shellfish and concluded that Bay Area crab was free of contamination.

But even as the test results were made public Thursday afternoon, Mother Nature's late-year temperament was beginning to undermine what had been perfect weather until now.

"It's been good weather for months," said Toby Carpenter, who buys crab wholesale as owner of The Seafood Guys behind Lucas Wharf. "If the season would have started when it was scheduled, you'd have a significant amount of volume in by this time."