Dungeness Crab
Dungeness Crab
Metacarcinus magister
Market crab, San Francisco crab
Seafood guides quicktabs
- Seafood Profile
- Biology & Habitat
- Science & Management
- Conservation Criteria
- Sustainability Summary
- Suppliers
Sourcing Summary
Dungeness crab is available fresh and frozen as whole cooks, sections, clusters, and picked meat, as well as live. Buyers say the best times to purchase are in December and January when landings are high, but prices can fluctuate dramatically due to Pacific storms. Buyers caution that in some years crab processed in early December will have lower meat yields because they haven’t filled out after molting and as such crab landed in January tend to have higher meat yields. Most of the crab meat marketed as fresh from March through November is meat picked from frozen crab sections put up in December and January. Live suppliers usually allow for 5% dead loss, which should be taken into account when determining the price. When buying live crabs make sure they are active and responsive; fresh crabs should be clean and moist with parts intact, a bright orange-red shell, and no unpleasant smell. Ideally combo meat packs will have 55% leg and claw meat, although buyers say that 50% is more common. Whole crab are graded 1.5-2lbs., 2-2.5lbs., 2.5-3lbs., and 3 ups.
Harvest Methods
Wild
Product Forms
Fresh
- Clusters
- Live
- Meat
- Sections
- Whole Cooked
Frozen
- Clusters
- Meat
- Sections
- Whole Cooked
Flavor
Texture
Oil
Health & Nutrition
Nutrition facts
- Calories86.00
- Total Fat1.00g
- Cholesterol59.00mg
- Sodium295.00mg
- Carbohydrates0.00g
- Protein17.00g
- Omega-3240.00mg
Recommended Servings per Month
- Men4+
- Women4+
- Kids 6-124+
- Kids 0-54+
Dungeness crab can live 10+ years with females reaching sexual maturity at 2 years and males at 3 years. Female crabs molt between May and August and mating occurs immediately after this molting period. The molting period is later in the season the farther north the crab are found. Mating usually occurs in inshore waters and females move to deeper waters to hatch eggs in late winter.
Dungeness crab is a decapod and consumes bivalves, crustaceans, marine worms, and fish. Predators of the Dungeness crab include octopus, halibut, dogfish, sculpins, rockfish, and birds. Male Dungeness crab reach minimum harvest size around age 4. Adult crab can reach a width of 10" (although 7" is more common), are reddish-brown in color, with short, thick legs.
Dungness crab range from Point Conception, California to the Eastern Aleutian Islands in Alaska. The crab prefer a sandy substrate, but are also found on mud and gravel. Dungeness crab are often buried just below the sand or in vegetation such as eelgrass beds. Dungness crab are found at depths from the intertidal range to 230m deep (but usually <90m).
- WildScience:
Currently, Alaska does not have stock assessments for Dungeness crab and there is unknown if stocks that are fished are genetically distinct from stocks that are not fished. Some data is collected via fish ticket reporting and dockside sampling, although the sampling is not comprehensive. Stock assessments for Dungeness crab on the U.S. West Coast are not conducted and annual landings are used as a proxy for stock abundance. Shell hardness tests are done in the pre-season, and there is data collection from logbooks in Washington. British Columbia has limited stock assessments (twice a year in 2 of the 7 fishing areas) from pot surveys. Data collection is also achieved through electronic monitoring, harvest logs, and biological sampling. Annual fluctuations have been identified in British Columbia and attributed to environmental conditions. While landings information helps inform populations of males, since only males are harvested, there is an absence of information regarding females and population size structure.
Management:Dungeness crab are fished using circular baited pots that are 3-4' wide and weigh 60-80 pounds. Most crab are caught in depths of 30-300 feet. In the U.S., Dungeness crab are managed at the state level. U.S. states use a “3-S strategy” – size, sex, and season. In Alaska, management of fishery openings and closures vary by regions within the state. Because some regions can be open to fishing during molting season there are concerns about removal of males before mating season and concerns of possible impacts on long-term sustainability. Alaska maintains regional closures where stocks have collapsed. California and Washington are limited entry fisheries with pot limits and gear requirements for size and escape mechanisms. Dungeness crab in British Columbia are managed at the national level and several management measures are used including size, sex, and hardness restrictions. There are also regulations on licensing, gear requirements, and soak times. British Columbia will also implement in-season closures when observations of soft shells is identified.
Impact on Stock
Dungeness crab are found throughout the Northeast Pacific in Washington, Oregon, California, British Columbia, and Alaska. Dungeness crab have low inherent vulnerability to fishing pressure due to characteristics like high fecundity and a relatively short lifespan, according to Seafood Watch. Their abundance fluctuates cyclically, likely due to environmental conditions. Their stock abundance is uncertain, Seafood Watch reported. British Columbia has a regionally limited stock assessment for the crab, and the U.S. lacks a formal independent stock assessment program. Despite that, data from landings appear to show that the stocks are not overfished.
Habitat Impacts
Dungeness crab are usually caught in steel traps called pots that have built-in exits to allow undersized crabs to escape. They also have biodegradable webs to prevent ghost fishing should the pot get lost. The gear to catch Dungeness crab is intended to sit in place on sand and mud habitats so impacts on the seafloor are minimal.
Bycatch
The pots used in the Dungeness crab fisheries allow fishermen to release unintended bycatch easily, usually without harming them. Gear interactions between humpback and gray whales have been known in some California, Oregon and Washington fisheries, Seafood Watch noted. While those entanglements are rare, endangered species can only withstand minimal mortalities from fishing activities, the 2015 report cautioned.
Management Effectiveness
Dungeness crab are managed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in British Columbia. In the United States, they are managed by the California and Washington Departments of Fish and Wildlife, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Management measures include a permitting system, limits on pots and the target of legal sized males. There are also harvest closures during peak molting. Seafood Watch called the harvest strategy management moderately effective for British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California. However, a 2015 report noted that management improvements are needed in Alaska to help some depleted Dungeness crab populations recover.
Name | Country | State/Province |
---|---|---|
Allseas Fisheries Corp. | Canada | Ontario |
Aqua Star | United States | Washington |
Barlean's Fishery, Inc. | United States | Washington |
Blundell Seafoods | Canada | British Columbia |
Bornstein Seafoods Inc. | United States | Oregon |
Calkins & Burke | Canada | British Columbia |
Canadian Fishing Company | Canada | British Columbia |
Caruso's | United States | California |
Caudle's Catch Seafood | Canada | Ontario |
Central Coast Seafood | United States | California |
City Fish | Canada | Alberta |
Coal Point Seafood Company | United States | Alaska |
Codfathers Seafood Market | Canada | British Columbia |
Community Supported Fishery | United States | Oregon |
Da Yang Seafood, Inc. | United States | Oregon |
Dana F. Besecker Company | United States | Washington |
Diamond Head Seafood Wholesale, Inc. | United States | Hawaii |
Empire Fish Company | United States | Wisconsin |
En Gros Pierre | Canada | Quebec |
FishPeople Seafood | United States | Oregon |
Flying Fish Company | United States | Oregon |
Foods In Season | United States | Washington |
Fortune Fish & Gourmet | United States, United States, United States, United States, United States, United States | Illinois |
FreshCatch | United States | California |
Hallmark Fisheries, Inc. | United States | Oregon |
Intercity Packers Meat & Seafood | Canada | British Columbia |
John Nagle Co. | United States | Massachusetts |
Keyport LLC | United States | Washington |
Lions Gate Fisheries, Ltd. | Canada | British Columbia |
Lusamerica Foods | United States, United States, United States | California |
Macgregors Meat & Seafood Ltd. | Canada | Ontario |
Marinelli Shellfish Co. | United States | Washington |
Marx Foods | United States | Washington |
McRoberts Sales Co., Inc. | United States, United States | Florida |
Mikuni Wild Harvest | United States | Washington |
Monterey Fish Market | United States | California |
Morning Star Fisheries LLC | United States | California |
Nelson Crab, Inc. | United States | Washington |
Norpac Fisheries Export | United States | Hawaii |
Northeast Oceans | United States | Massachusetts |
Northeast Seafood Products, Inc. | United States | Colorado |
Northern Lakes Seafood & Meats | United States | Michigan |
Northwest Fresh Seafood Company | United States | Oregon |
NOVA Fisheries / SunWave Processors | United States | Washington |
Ocean Beauty Seafoods LLC | United States | Washington |
OM Seafood Company | United States | Oregon |
Orca Bay Seafoods, Inc. | United States | Washington |
Oregon Seafoods | United States | Oregon |
Organic Ocean Seafood Inc. | Canada | British Columbia |
Pacific Dream Seafoods | United States | Washington |
Pacific Harvest Seafood, Inc. | United States | Washington |
Pacific Harvest Seafoods | United States | California |
Pacific Seafood Group, Inc. | United States | Oregon |
Palomino Foods, Inc. | United States | Washington |
Pike Place Fish Market | United States | Washington |
Port Orford Sustainable Seafood | United States | Oregon |
Premier Catch | United States | Washington |
Profish Ltd. | United States | District of Columbia |
Real Good Fish | United States | California |
Robbie's Ocean Fresh Seafood, Inc. | United States | California |
Royal Hawaiian Seafood | United States | California |
Santa Monica Seafood, Inc. | United States | California |
Sea Forager Seafood | United States | California |
Sea to Table, USA | United States | New York |
Seacore Seafood | Canada | Ontario |
Seafood4life Products Inc. | Canada | British Columbia |
Seattle Fish Co | United States | Colorado |
Seattle Fish Company - Kansas City | United States | Missouri |
Seattle Fish Company of New Mexico | United States | New Mexico |
Siren Fish Co. | United States | California |
Smokey Bay Seafood Group | Canada, Canada, United States | British Columbia |
Star Fisheries Inc. | United States | California |
Stikine Seafoods | United States | Alaska |
The Alaska Guys | Singapore | |
The Fish Guys Inc. | United States | Minnesota |
The Fishin' Company | United States | Pennsylvania |
The Lobster Man | Canada | British Columbia |
Tradex Foods Inc. | Canada | British Columbia |
Tri-Star Seafood Supply Ltd. | Canada | British Columbia |
Trident Seafoods Corp. | United States | Washington |
Vital Choice Seafood | United States | Washington |
Wild Local Seafood Co. | United States | California |
Wild Planet Foods, Inc. | United States | California |
WildCatch Seafood Products LLC | United States | Washington |
Acknowledgements
- Environmental Defense Fund
- Marine Stewardship Council
- NOAA Fisheries
- Seafood Watch Program
- SeafoodSource