Commercial Dungeness crab fishing will open next month

NEWPORT, Ore. – Commercial Dungeness crab fishing will open next month on the southern Oregon coast.

The earliest crab season could start was in December, but it was delayed low meat yield and high acid levels.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Thursday night that the southern portion of Oregon’s coastline from Cape Arago to the California border to be open starting February 4th.

“We have been listening to good things from the people out there. The crabs that have been coming in have been big and bountiful and it seems like there is a lot that are out there. We just need to get the whole state up and running. So we are very excited to finally get that.”

Fishing can only be done in a Bio Toxin Management Zone, this means, the timing and locations will depend on the results of on-going bio toxin testing.

Additionally, Oregon Department of Agriculture will be testing these crabs and removing the guts where acid accumulates.

They say this process will result in a high-quality safe product for consumers.