SANTA CRUZ (KRON) — Crab season opens on Saturday after being delayed for months following concerns of a potentially deadly toxin in Dungeness crabs.
Now, as you might expect, the crabbers are eager to go fishing. But one local fleet will have to overcome yet another obstacle.
The crab pots are piling up at the harbor in Santa Cruz where Joe Tomasello and the Sea Breeze are ready to go amid reports the fishing is likely to be pretty good.
State health officials now say levels of domoic acid in crabs have abated and they are now safe to eat. But just as Tomasello and the rest of the small fleet here are set to shove off, they must deal with shoaling, the build up of sand in the narrow harbor entrance, which restricts and slow traffic.
A dredge has scooped out some 250,000 cubic yards of sand so far, but new rules will require fisherman and other craft to radio the harbor master for the latest conditions.
After struggling to make ends meet, the crabbers say the last thing they need now is more delay.
With a little luck, Tomasello said he hopes to return with his pots full of fat Dungeness and says crab lovers might be able to indulge on their appetite as soon as Sunday.