Crab Limits Have Crabbers Packed Like Sardines

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — We are coming up on the start of crab season, but congestion concerns are also coming up across the Bay Area.

Fishermen are geared up and ready to go, but an issue of too many crabbers in a small area may create problems for whales.

The reason for the issue at the start of the season is contaminated crab. The crab fishing grounds normally stretch from the Russian River to Morrow Bay, but some of the crabs to the north of Point Reyes have tested too high in demoic acid to be healthy to eat.

The unhealthy crab have caused the area north of Point Reyes to temporarily close to fishermen. Aaron Winezinger says, "Whatever boats wanted to fish in that 60-mile area, is now forced to fish below Point Reyes."

This compressed fishing area is expected to cause big competition among crab fishermen, Tony Anello says, "which puts about eleven thousand extra pots down in that area."

There is also another concern about this problem. Tony Anello says, "more pressure on the whale situation is just not the best thing to do."

All of the extra equipment confined to one area increases the risk of a whale getting entangled. The Bodega Bay Fishing Association wants to shut down the entire region until all the fish test healthy. The lab results from the crab collected today won't be back until next week, and it will be those results that determine if the entire district can be opened.