{"id":21810,"date":"2025-02-03T09:45:45","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T09:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?p=21810"},"modified":"2025-02-03T09:45:46","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T09:45:46","slug":"the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/","title":{"rendered":"The Washington Dungeness crab season builds up value"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Following a belated January 15, 2025 start, the Washington Dungeness crab season has quickly garnered\u00a0price value<\/u><\/a>\u00a0amid roaring currents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The very first haul in mid-January instantly fetched $5.75<\/u><\/a> a pound and edged the previous 2021-22 season\u2019s record of $5.19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This season began with strong seas along Long Beach Peninsula but fishermen still managed to land jumbo and 2-pounders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also clear that the landings are currently at a slow pace and will continue to be so due to low catches. Apparently, poor meat yield was the reason the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife had postponed the season\u2019s start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter California\u2019s Crabbers<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Relaxed rules and prices however have attracted California<\/u><\/a>\u2019s veteran crabbers to buy license further north in Washington waters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Washington, California opened its Dungeness crab quite late on January 5, for north San Francisco Bay. The reason for the delay was to let whale migration <\/u><\/a>run its course unharmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is this whale protection and total catch restrictions that have seen Californians try a place for their pots further north. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

California\u2019s official Dungeness crab season runs November 2, 2024 to July 30, 2025, for north and south Sonoma coastlines. However, crabbers can only legally catch 10 crabs a day<\/u><\/a>, each at least 5 3\/4 inches long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington\u2019s Restrictions<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Washington on the other hand allows daily bag limits of 6 hard-shell males measuring over 6 inches long, along certain bays. In interior waters like the all-important Columbia River, the limit doubles to 12 hard-shell male crabs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2023-24 season, Columbia River\u2019s northern area up to Westport landed over 10 million pounds or 60% of the state\u2019s total. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most restricted area is Puget Sound<\/u><\/a>, a 100-mile long estuary in the northwest Washington\u2019s coast. Here, crabbers must always carry catch record cards with them to account for their harvest figures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, this year\u2019s slow start is seeing catches having as much as 23% meat percentage, which is good according to crabbers. For more bits like these on the Washington Dungeness crab scene, skim the statistics below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington Dungeness Crab Statistics <\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Besides being a commercial activity, crab fishing in Washington doubles as a recreational activity. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), recreational fishermen catch 1.5 million pounds <\/u><\/a>of crabs, including Dungeness, annually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most important crab species in Washington is the Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister)<\/em>. The state produced its highest commercial catch in the 2022-23 season at 28.7 million pounds<\/u><\/a>, per local government\u2019s figures.  While this was more than 10 million pounds of the 2021-22 season, there was no repeat in the 2023-24 season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do tribal landings fare in Washington\u2019s Dungeness Crab fisheries<\/strong>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2022-23 season, tribal catches represented 1\/6th<\/sup>\u00a0of the total catches at\u00a04.6 million pounds<\/u><\/a>. Most tribal pots and traps are placed in the Puget Sound estuary, a coastal inlet in northwest Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H<\/strong>ow does Puget Sound<\/strong> performs the best for Dungeness crabs<\/strong>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 1991 and 2022, Puget Sound fisheries have consistently landed between 2 and 11 million pounds per year of this species. This according to WDFW<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How valuable is Puget Sound\u2019s Dungeness crab harvest<\/strong>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tribal and state fishing of Dungeness crabs in Puget Sound brought between $2 and $14 million annually between 1990 and 2017. The best year in this period was 2015 at $14 million<\/u><\/a> while the lowest 1991 at just over $2 million. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following a belated January 15, 2025 start, the Washington Dungeness crab season has quickly garnered\u00a0price value\u00a0amid roaring currents. The very first haul in mid-January instantly fetched $5.75 a pound and edged the previous 2021-22 season\u2019s record of $5.19. This season began with strong seas along Long Beach Peninsula but fishermen still managed to land jumbo and 2-pounders. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19784,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Washington Dungeness crab season builds up value - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Washington Dungeness crab season builds up value - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Following a belated January 15, 2025 start, the Washington Dungeness crab season has quickly garnered\u00a0price value\u00a0amid roaring currents. The very first haul in mid-January instantly fetched $5.75 a pound and edged the previous 2021-22 season\u2019s record of $5.19. This season began with strong seas along Long Beach Peninsula but fishermen still managed to land jumbo and 2-pounders. ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-03T09:45:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-03T09:45:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Sanc1683_-_Flickr_-_NOAA_Photo_Library.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Timothy Wahome\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Timothy Wahome\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/\",\"name\":\"The Washington Dungeness crab season builds up value - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-03T09:45:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-03T09:45:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Washington Dungeness crab season builds up value\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News\",\"description\":\"Discover the Latest in Food and Agriculture.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8\",\"name\":\"Timothy Wahome\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Timothy Wahome\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/author\/twt4wahomegmail-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Washington Dungeness crab season builds up value - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Washington Dungeness crab season builds up value - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News","og_description":"Following a belated January 15, 2025 start, the Washington Dungeness crab season has quickly garnered\u00a0price value\u00a0amid roaring currents. The very first haul in mid-January instantly fetched $5.75 a pound and edged the previous 2021-22 season\u2019s record of $5.19. This season began with strong seas along Long Beach Peninsula but fishermen still managed to land jumbo and 2-pounders. ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/","og_site_name":"Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News","article_published_time":"2025-02-03T09:45:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-02-03T09:45:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Sanc1683_-_Flickr_-_NOAA_Photo_Library.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Timothy Wahome","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Timothy Wahome","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/","url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/","name":"The Washington Dungeness crab season builds up value - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-02-03T09:45:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-03T09:45:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/02\/03\/the-washington-dungeness-crab-season-builds-up-value\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Washington Dungeness crab season builds up value"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/","name":"Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News","description":"Discover the Latest in Food and Agriculture.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8","name":"Timothy Wahome","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Timothy Wahome"},"url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/author\/twt4wahomegmail-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21810"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21810"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21812,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21810\/revisions\/21812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}