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Many people are looking forward to the Recreational Dungeness Crab Season.
The Recreational Dungeness Crab Season will open this Saturday on the 5th of November, as crab suppliers are already getting their stands ready.
Also, the Bay Area crab season starts on November 15. It is worth mentioning that many crab suppliers from the Northstate take their supply from this place. One of these suppliers is R&R Quality Meats & Seafood, and it provides customers with fresh crabs Dungeness crabs every year.
However, the supply was very low in 2015, because a highly toxic acid contaminated most of the California Dungeness crab population. Due to the warmer ocean temperatures, a toxic algal bloom spread in the waters infecting countless crabs with a powerful toxin, known as domoic acid.
After ingesting this acid, the crabs were no longer edible. According to the company’s co-owner, CJ Lefort, many crabs across California tested positive for the toxic acid leading to an awful season for all suppliers because no one was able to make any profit.
The Recreational Dungeness Crab Season from last year was scheduled to open before the holiday season, but it had to be delayed until May. Lefort underlines that crab is a widely-popular food in the Northstate, especially during holidays, and the tradition will go on this year as well.
All suppliers hope that the ocean will provide them with many healthy crabs. California’s public health specialists are currently conducting a comprehensive investigation to verify the toxicity levels in the crab population.
In case these crabs test positive again for domoic acid, the specialists will have to delay the Recreational Dungeness Crab Season again. Also, CDPH officials warn recreational anglers to refrain themselves from consuming the viscera, or the internal organs of any crab they catch in the Point Reyes northern coastal waters.
There is still the chance the Dungeness crabs might contain elevated levels of domoic acid. However, CDPH experts believe the crabs are safe to eat, but the warning serves as a measure of precaution for every angler.
They also recommend recreational anglers to stick to the preparation practices in order to prevent the exposure to the toxic domoic acid, which might still be present in the Dungeness crab’s internal organs. Besides crabs, shellfish and fish can also accumulate high levels of this acid.
Image Source: Wikipedia
