Gearing up: Crabbers get ready

Crab pots are beginning to fill area ports, a sign that the state's most lucrative commercial fishery is preparing for the season ahead. "We already have 200 staged down at the dock," said commercial fisherman Florian Mumford, who will fish 600 pots this season total from the F/V Vengeance. Mumford was busy alongside crew Erik Ervest, Mark Hippensteel and Devlin Moline prepping pots Friday, Nov. 15, inside a covered building at the Ilwaco Boatyard.

The official start of the 2024 Washington commercial Dungeness crab season could come as early as Dec. 1, if the crab pass preseason test fishery results for meat recovery and shell hardness. The tests are conducted in four rounds by WDFW, beginning in October and continuing through November in Washington, Oregon and California. The WDFW uses contracted coastal commercial crab vessels to conduct the test fishing. The tests are conducted at northern (Westport) and southern (Long Beach) stations. The department samples the stations repeatedly until the meat pick-out percentage reaches 23%.

In the initial test, conducted Thursday, Nov. 7, Long Beach (17%) failed to meet the adequate meat recovery percentage. Early round testing conducted in Westport (on Oct. 23) had similar results (17.3%). The highest percentage in the initial test came from pots north of Newport, which had a 28.4% meat recovery. The WDFW uses the test results to determine when to open the commercial Dungeness crab season. The season typically starts in December or January, when most male crabs have recovered from the fall molt period. The season usually runs through Sept. 15.

Over the past eight years however, Washington has had only two December starts, in 2020 and 2022.

In the 2023-24 season, Washington commercial crabbers caught a total of 17.57 million pounds of Dungeness crab, generating an ex-vessel value of $66.9 million. About 10.47 million pounds, or 60%, was caught in the area from the Columbia River north to Pt. Chehalis (Westport), including the crab-rich waters just off Long Beach. Willapa Bay accounted for 987,212 pounds, or 6% of the statewide catch.

The season was delayed until February last year, with 95% of the catch coming in the first three months of the season. Late starts usually mean somewhat safer marine conditions, but can impact the price paid to crabbers. Total harvests the last two seasons have been among the best in more than 15 years in the crabbing grounds from the Columbia River north to Westport, accounting for more than 23 million pounds. The crab population historically cycles up and down, with abundant periods followed by lean ones.