Crab season opens, sort of

Crab season has opened, but no one’s catching anything. Crabbers and processors are still negotiating on price and there is concern about the quality of current crabs, according to the County Times.

The principal issue is that the big producers from up north and big processors are locking the smaller local crabbers out of the market.  Governor Schwarzenegger’s recently vetoed of a bill that would have limited the number of crab pots on fishing boats, according to the Chronicle.

"A few years ago, San Francisco Dungeness crab was a gourmet delicacy that was usually enjoyed fresh by local residents," said Zeke Grader, the executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, a commercial fishing advocacy group.

Now, Grader said, the big processors have turned California Dungeness into a canned and frozen commodity that largely is consumed on cruise ships and in casinos.