Commercial crab season returns to the Bay Area ahead of New Year

3 years ago

SAN FRANCISCO - NOVEMBER 17: Dungeness Crabs sit in a bin after being offloaded from a fishing vessel on November 17, 2010 in San Francisco, California. After a brief delay due to the sizes and maturity of the crabs, Dungeness Crab season opened today instead of its official start day of November 15. Fisherman are hoping for a big year since the past few years haven't yielded big catches. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) — Crab season has finally arrived in the Bay Area.

On Wednesday, the long-awaited Dungeness commercial crab fishing season returned from Pescadero to the Mendocino-Sonoma County line.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced commercial crabbers can drop their pots in the waters off Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties.

Traditionally, the commercial Dungeness crab season starts Nov. 15.

Commercial crab season was delayed to help protect humpback whales and leatherback sea turtles from entanglements with fishing equipment.

Courtesy: California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The season covers Fishing Zone 3 — between Pigeon Point to the south and the border between Sonoma and Mendocino counties in the north.