While fall and winter seasons for many non-locals may be defined by the changing colors of leaves on trees or the first snowfall, Bay Area residents anxiously await a different celebration of Mother Nature—or Father Neptune, more appropriately: the opening of the Dungeness crab fishing season.
Dungeness crab is an iconic species to San Francisco, and the unofficial mascot of the Fisherman’s Wharf district.
By Kati Schmidt
Published: November, 2010
Dungeness crab, Cancer magister, is an iconic species to San Francisco, and the unofficial mascot of the Fisherman’s Wharf district. Dungeness crabs are members of the order of decapods, meaning 10-limbed crustaceans. While the animal uses eight of its legs for walking, the two forward legs or pincers are used for feeding and fighting. Identifying a female from a male crab requires a careful examination of its underside; females have a wide, rounded flap covering its abdomen, while the male abdomen is narrow. Similar to a sea star, Dungeness crabs can take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’, thanks to their ability to regenerate lost appendages through a series of molts.
San Francisco Bay itself provides a valuable nursery ground and safe haven for the animal, as fishing is prohibited in San Francisco and San Pablo Bays, from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Carquinez Bridge. The commercial fishing season from the southern tip of Mendocino County southward opens on November 15 and extends to June 30, 2011, and the northern California fishing areas, off Mendocino and Humboldt counties, opens December 1 and runs through July 15, 2011.
Female crabs will only mate after molting. Once ready, the female releases pheromones in her urine, attracting the male. A seduction sequence ensues, including a mating dance, followed by a belly-to-belly embrace that lasts up to several days, after which the female is ready to molt and mate. The male then delivers spermatophores, or packages of sperm, which can develop into more than one million eggs. The male often remains with the soft-shelled female for a couple of days afterwards to ensure her protection. The female carries the eggs for three to five months until they hatch. Once hatched, the larvae go with the flow of currents; fortunately for the animal, the currents most often carry them into near-shore areas or estuaries such as San Francisco Bay. The larvae progress through six stages and 10 molts within two years before reaching maturity.
In terms of eating seasonally as well as sustainably, when it comes to seafood, Dungeness crabs are an ocean-friendly choice. The fishery is incredibly well-managed through what is referred to as the “three S’s”: size, sex and season. Only crabs of at least 6.25 inches across the carapace, or hard back shell, are allowed to be fished. Fishing for crabs is restricted to males, and the fishing season is purposely scheduled to avoid interfering with the animals’ main molting season. In addition to regulations, Dungeness crabs’ short lifespan, a low age for maturity and high fertility levels help safeguard them from over-fishing.
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San Francisco’s waterfront, particularly the Fisherman’s Wharf district, becomes even more of a crab mecca during the fishing season, with the cooked crab steam wafting through the streets.
In addition to endless eating options in this neighborhood, Aquarium of the Bay also encourages eaters to support restaurant partners of the San Francisco Seafood Watch Alliance, which was formed in 2009 between the Aquarium, the California Academy of Sciences and the San Francisco Zoo. Working together, the Alliance provides regional support for the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program. The Aquarium focuses primarily on helping restaurants throughout the Bay Area become certified restaurant partners, meaning they only serve items on the Seafood Watch “best choices” or “good alternatives” list. A full list of restaurant partners is available in the conservation section of Aquarium of the Bay’s website
“Eating Dungeness crab is great for the oceans and your carbon footprint,” says Crystal Sanders, fisheries biologist and conservation coordinator for Aquarium of the Bay. “It is a local species that is low on the food chain and sustainably harvested, and it doesn’t take nearly the energy to get to Bay Area dinner plates as a blue crab from the Atlantic.”
For a live, up close and off-the-plate look at Dungeness crabs, visit Aquarium of the Bay, where the animals are displayed in the main Under the Bay exhibit area. Daily Fishing for Our Future discussions led by the Aquarium’s naturalists also touch on the sustainable fishing practices and regulations that help ensure the continued vitality—and consumer enjoyment of—this iconic local species.
Kati Schmidt is the Public Relations Manager for Aquarium of the Bay and The Bay Institute, nonprofit organizations dedicated to protecting, restoring and inspiring conservation of San Francisco Bay and its watershed. A Bay Area native and aspiring Great American novelist, Kati enjoys the professional and personal muses found from strolling and cycling along, and occasionally even swimming in San Francisco Bay and beyond.
