UPDATE 10 A.M. 11/5The California Department of Fish and Wildlife issued the following statement on the delay of crab season:
“The California Fish and Game Commission today voted 3-0 in favor of an emergency rulemaking to prohibit recreational take and possession of Dungeness crab and all rock crab from ocean waters, including bays and estuaries, north of the Ventura/Santa Barbara county line. Closure of the fisheries shall remain in effect until the Director of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), in consultation with the Director of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), determines that domoic acid levels no longer pose a significant risk to public health and no longer recommends the fisheries be closed.”
The recreational Dungeness crab season was scheduled to start Saturday, Nov. 7.
CDPH, in conjunction with CDFW, has been actively testing crabs since early September and results from the most recent tests showed that the health risk to humans is significant. CDPH issued a health advisory on Tuesday. OEHHA followed that with a recommendation for delays and closures.
CDFW will continue to coordinate with CDPH and OEHHA to test domoic acid levels in crab along the coast to determine when the fisheries can safely be opened.
(KRON) — State officials issued a health advisory today against eating Dungeness and rock crab caught along the California coast from Santa Barbara to the Oregon border due to dangerous levels of a naturally occurring toxin.
Recent tests have persistently shown high levels of domoic acid in crab meat and viscera, more commonly known as crab butter, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Eating the toxic crabs could cause vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headache and dizziness. Symptoms can appear within 30 minutes to 24 hours after consuming toxic seafood, and persist for several days.
This warning comes just days before the start of recreational crabbing season, which will likely be delayed.
The accumulation of domoic acid in seafood is a natural phenomena caused by the presence of Pseudo-nitzschia, a single-celled plant, according to state health officials. Conditions affecting the growth of Pseudo-nitzschia are unpredictable, and that makes it difficult to know when levels of domoic acid in locally caught crab will subside.
Health officials will continue to monitor domoic acid in Dungeness and rock crab until levels subside below 20 parts per million in the meat and 30 parts per million in the viscera, they said.
Severe cases of domoic acid poisoning can sometimes involve trouble breathing, confusion, disorientation, cardiovascular instability, seizures, excessive bronchial secretions, permanent loss of short-term memory, coma or even death.
So far – however – no cases of domoic acid poisoning have been reported, according to state health officials.
For more information call the California Department of Public Health’s shellfish information line at (800) 553-4133.