Fish Dungeness, but with a catch
Health officials warning against eating organs
One year after spending the holidays without Dungeness crab, Bay Area lovers of the delicacy can celebrate the start Saturday of the recreational crab fishing season.
But there is a catch. Public health officials have told fishermen not to eat the internal organs of any crabs taken in the waters north of Point Reyes in Marin County.
The warning issued by the California Department of Public Health stems from the sporadic detection of elevated levels of domoic acid in the viscera of Dungeness crabs caught off the Northern California coast. Domoic acid is a neurotoxin that in mild doses causes gastrointestinal illness and in severe cases can be fatal.
The heightened levels of domoic acid in crab and other shellfish last year resulted in a fourmonth delay to the start of the Dungeness crab season, which delivered a financial blow to fishermen in Northern and Central California. And Bay Area consumers who feast on crab during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons had to go without.
The health warning is effective for recreationally caught Dungeness crabs taken from state waters north of latitude 38° 00’ N. (near Point Reyes). State health officials believe that Dungeness crab meat is safe to eat, but as a precaution consumers are advised not to eat the viscera, also known as “butter” or “guts.”
Record- breaking warm temperatures in the Pacific Ocean last year produced a “super bloom” of algae along the West Coast, causing unsafe levels of domoic acid in crab and other shellfish. The commercial Dungeness crab season typically begins in November, with fishermen making most of their money in the frenzied first few weeks. This past season, however, ran from March to June.
This year’s commercial crabbing season is set to open Nov. 15, but as of Friday the Department of Fish and Wildlife can’t say whether or not it will be delayed.