Fishing ban lifted, fishermen’s response muted

The state has determined that local crabs and fist are safe to eat.  However, local fishermen are waiting until they can all set out together. And they’re still not particularly happy, reports Julia Scott in the County Times.

"There’s no particular reason to hurry now that we’ve already lost our market," said Pillar Point fisherman Duncan MacLean, head of the Half Moon Bay Fishermen’s Marketing Association, who estimated that he could have lost as much as $20,000, or 30 percent of his revenue for the season. MacLean is a plaintiff in one of four class-action lawsuits circulating among fishermen at Pillar Point.

Losing the start of the Dungeness season also means Bay Area fishermen will have to accept a much lower per-pound price for their product from buyers once the season opens north of Point Arena this weekend. Before the Cosco Busan crisis, local fishermen were negotiating a selling price of $3.25 per pound, MacLean said. Now, their wares are more likely to fetch $2.15 per pound or less, MacLean said.

Meanwhile, a fishing boat based in Santa Cruz went aground on the rocks off Pigeon Point early Thursday.