Locals on the hunt for Thanksgiving

It’s the day before Thanksgiving and on the Central Coast tis the season for local Monterey Bay crab.

“We got the relatives visiting and we thought we’d pick up some crab,” said Stev Moore.

“I’m not a big fan of turkey so I just thought let’s do something different,” said crab buyer Kelly Shatto.

Royal Seafoods said it’s seeing a constant flow of customers buying live crab straight from the bay for $7.50 a pound.

“It’s a rush, especially since we’re the only ones that have live crab right now,” said Jonathan with Royal Seafoods.

The Monterey Fish Company can’t keep the seafood delicacy in stock.

“As soon as November 15th came they were asking,” said Gaspar Catanzaro with Monterey Fish Company.

Catazanro said it’s so in demand that they sold out of 800 pounds worth of crab in just a few hours.

“Always when we have the fresh, local, cooked local, it’s gonna sell like crazy because people want to local Monterey crab,” said Catanzaro.

Especially since last year high levels of domoic acid made the crab from the bay unsafe to eat. Now that they have a clean bill of health, locals are happy to carry on the crab eating tradition this year.

“A lot of the family has actually lived in Oregon for a long time, where going out and crabbing was a big thing,” said Moore. “So this is kind of a way to keep touch with the Oregon past.”

Some plan on serving their Dungeness with butter alongside the turkey, while others are getting a little more creative.

“We thought we’d do some crab ceviche, something a little different than turkey,” Shatto.

Some local markets expect to be busy on Thanksgiving with last minute shoppers buying crab.