Crab fishermen and processors have reached an agreement

Crab fishermen have come to an agreement with processors, $1.75 per pound, and crab fishing has begun, according to the Chronicle. Although the story mentions only San Francisco, the Half Moon Bay fleet is included.

Last year, the processors paid crabbers $1.75 a pound. The harvest yielded 23.7 million pounds.

Pete Kalvass, a marine biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game, said this year’s catch may not be as abundant.

"It’s pretty safe to say that coming off back-to-back record years, this season’s catch will be smaller,’’ Kalvass predicted.

Still, he said, the take for local fishers may prove bountiful. The start of the crab season north of Mendocino and into Oregon and Washington has been delayed until at least Dec. 15. And fishermen who come into the Central California waters and make a landing would see the start of their season delayed even longer, under government regulations set up to protect local crabbers.