Crab season officially begins

Last night marked the official start of crab season in Monterey Bay. Today, to their pleasant surprise, some restaurants on fisherman’s wharf had their first batch of dungeness crab.

“First report, the crabs were to small for commercial so we were really nervous we weren’t going to get any,” Cafe Fina owner Dominic Mercuiro said.

Over the last few years, there has been a shortage of crab in Monterey Bay, but both fisherman and restaurants are optimistic about this season.

“It’s slowly coming back last year, it seemed like it picked up quite a bit,” Old Fisherman’s Grotto owner Chris Shake said.

The going rate for fisherman right for fisherman right now is three dollars and 50 cents. For customers to pick up live crab by the pound it is seven and a half dollars on fisherman’s wharf.

For some people, it’s worth paying whatever’s necessary for fresh crab.

“It’s not necessarily something you want to do, but if you enjoy it and really appreciate the food and food quality, absolutely we’ll pay for it,” Old Fisherman’s Grotto customer.

Even if there is a lack of crab, restaurants will get crab from other regions like Washington and Alaska.

“We’re not going to run out of crab,” Mercuiro said. “If we have to get it up north or Santa Cruz or a little bit north of that it’ll still be a quality product, but getting off the boat-its special.”