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Crab Meat at Best This Time of Year
December 12, 2007
(Newport, Oregon) – Right now is one of the best times of the year to catch your own quality Dungeness crab in the ocean and bays of on the Oregon coast, according to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). It also happens to coincide with the opening of the commercial crabbing season. When weather permits, sport crabbers may now head out for a bit of adventure by crabbing on the ocean.
"Right now is the prime time for crabbing," said Brandon Ford, an ODFW spokesman in Newport. "The crab are in the best condition throughout winter and into the spring. The pre-season testing of ocean crab for the commercial fishery showed that crabs had hard shells and were full of meat. And crabbing in the bays and estuaries has improved in recent weeks."
Ford said that crabmeat is typically at its best this time of year, as they are plump and full of meat after filling their new shells with muscle tissues since molting in late summer.
The recent storms did not affect non-commercial crabbing in the least, said Ford. There is, however, a ban on collecting shellfish and toxin alert from Newport to Astoria, because of the storm. This does not affect crabbing.
Newport alone has dozens of crabbing spots along the Yaquina Bay, where crabbing is allowed year round. It's also known as the "Dungeness Crab Capital of the World," partially because the area's fishing fleet has broken many records for crab hauls in recent years.
Commercial crab season opened December 1, and this means that the ocean will be open for crabbing to private citizens as well. There are, of course, a limited number of nice, calm days for this endeavor, but Ford said those hardy souls interested in this adventurous form of crabbing are growing in numbers – and they are often rewarded.
"When ocean conditions permit, anglers can combine crabbing and bottom fishing in one trip," Ford said. "I believe there are more people looking for those opportunities. The crabs are generally bigger in the deep ocean, although it is often a matter of luck, like any sport fishing."
Ford stressed that the bay is still a good place to find the Dungeness crab, especially for those new to the sport. He pointed to one special spot in South Beach where a boat is not needed to go crabbing – the long dock that stretches a couple hundred feet out into the bay.
"In South Beach, there’s that dock that goes way into the water, and it's mostly used for crabbing," Ford said. "But you can fish from there."
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Newport, Oregon
The coast you remember.
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