It’s on: Crab season opens in San Mateo County

Beginning Jan. 5, from the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the U.S./Mexico border — which includes San Mateo County — fishers have been allowed out on the waters to catch crab, albeit with a 50% trap reduction.

“I don’t think anybody was surprised by it,” Pruett said. “They’re just happy to get out there.”

Commercial crabbing season from the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to the California/Oregon border remains closed until Jan. 15 due to meat testing quality issues, according to a press release from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

But in Half Moon Bay — where trap presoaking began Jan. 2 — fishers and residents are decidedly happy to have boats in the water once more, Pruett said.

“Off-the-boat sales were crazy. All the parking lots were full by 8 a.m., people trying to get down there, get crab off the boat,” he said. “It didn’t let up all day.”

San Mateo County residents looking for fresh crab can purchase it at the harbor live and can also get it boiled and cleaned at the Pelagic Seafood Fish Market.

“Every morning, fresh, live, off the boat. You can get them cooked and cleaned before you leave the harbor,” Pruett said.

Pruett did add, however, that fishers are reporting “it’s a little light out there,” partially due to the trap reduction. It’s likely that reduction will remain throughout the season, Bartling said.

And that new, reduced reality will likely remain for the foreseeable future, he said.

“[Whale] populations are recovering, which is the great news, and the fleet is having to adapt to that new reality,” he said. “I think there’s some kind of middle ground that will be had. It’s unlikely that the crab season will return to … its former length and timing.”