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Regulations for the California Crabbing Season

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Safe Coast Seafoods

Dungeness crab is a species of crab that grows up to 20 centimeters in length across the carapace and typically inhabits the west coast of North America. Crabbing takes place all the way from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska down to the US-Mexico border.



Dungeness Crabs are an extremely desirable seafood species all over the world, and in order to regulate their fishing, the State Departments of Fish and Wildlife have made a guideline for the fishermen. These guidelines prohibit them from catching juvenile or female crabs so as not to disrupt their population.


Safe Coast Seafoods 

Safe Coast Seafoods is a fishing company that offers the highest quality of Dungeness crab meat to their customers. They work all over the world, from the Pacific Northwest and the San Francisco Bay Area to distant countries such as China and Taiwan. Even though Dungeness crabs are available year-round, the fishing seasons need to be regulated. Because of Safe Coast Seafood’s vast reach all over the Pacific Coast, they are able to source the highest quality Dungeness crab meat even outside the main crab season in California.  


Safe Coast Seafoods are committed to providing its customers with the best seafood all year round. At the same time, they are also committed to sustainable fishing and crabbing practices that do not disrupt the delicate ecosystems of their fishing regions. They work in accordance with the governmental laws which dictate when it is safe to go crabbing.


CDFW Regulations 

The commercial crab season is decided by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), based on three conditions.

  • All crustaceans and shellfish have a toxin in them called Domoic acid, and the amount of acceptable intake level of this toxin is regulated by the FDA. In collaboration with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the CDFW tests the domoic acid levels in the crabs and determines whether they are safe or unsafe for consumption.  
  • Taking into consideration the number of at-risk species in any given fishing zone, the CDFW can pass over a particular zone that does not have the required number of species. As the fishing and crabbing gear can harm other species, too, those regions are skipped over. The CDFW conducts an assessment based on data provided by the Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group to determine which sections are unfit for fishing and crabbing.        
  • The third requirement from the CDFW is that crabs should have enough meat. The meat quality of a crab is measured by weighing the live crab, cooking and picking its meat, and weighing the picked meat. The ratio between the weight of the meat and the live crab needs to be a certain amount for particular sections to be open for the season.
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