Woes Continue for West Coast Fishing Industry as California Suspends Crab Catch
Those hitting West Coast seafood restaurants in the coming weeks might notice that one delicacy common to menus this time of year is missing: Dungeness crab.
The commercial crab fishing season has been delayed owing to a toxic algae bloom that makes the crab potentially dangerous to consume, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Friday. This follows an announcement from the California Fish and Game Commission, which suspended recreational Dungeness and rock crab fishing the day before.
“Crab is an important part of California’s culture and economy, and I did not make this decision lightly,” Charlton H. Bonham, the fish and wildlife agency director, said in a statement. “But doing everything we can to limit the risk to public health has to take precedence.”
Although algae blooms are common, researchers believe this year’s event, which started in May and lasted through the summer, may be the largest and most persistent in the West Coast’s history. The algae flourishes in warming waters and produces a neurotoxin called domoic acid. Experts have stopped short of linking the bloom directly to this year’s El Niño event, which is characterized by warming waters, although one of the last recorded blooms of similar size was in 1998, also an El Niño year.
Domoic acid builds up in shellfish and other invertebrates. Eating one of the toxic crabs can lead to a range of health effects, from minor ones such as dizziness or nausea to more severe issues, including seizures and potentially death.
Mussel, clam, sardine, and anchovy fishing were shut down in June in California, as was Washington state’s Dungeness crab fishing—all because of toxic levels of domoic acid. Along with the danger to humans, other marine animals suffer as the toxin works its way up the food chain. Wildlife officials have seen an uptick in sea lion deaths from domoic acid poisoning this year.
Testing of crabs along the California coastline revealed that levels of domoic acid were above the state’s “action level,” and the crabs were therefore not safe to consume. Officials from California’s Department of Public Health will continue testing samples weekly to determine when the toxins have been flushed out and the crabs are safe to consume.
This delay in California’s $60 million a year crab industry could have a devastating financial repercussions for local fisheries, not to mention the restaurants and grocers that will lose out on serving and selling the crustacean.
Related stories on TakePart:
• El Niño’s Effect on Marine Life Goes Beyond Sea Snakes on a Beach
• A Record Number of Mexico-Based Seals Are Washing Up Dead in California
• An Undersea Volcano Previews a Terrifying Future for the World’s Oceans
Original article from TakePart
