Like those heady days when salmon are coming in on joyful and full boats, crab season can enliven Noyo Harbor with motion, aromas and noise. And then take it all away, leaving the place silent and with only the faint aroma of the sea. That was the crabby up and downs of the past two weeks.

Unlike the salmon, the gyrations of the crab population are not surprising or signs of doom. Biologist predict choppy cycles in crab numbers, even if they don’t entirely understand the causes of them.

On the Saturday and Sunday after Christmas, both sides of Noyo Harbor were quiet. For the south harbor, the Saturday silence at a sunny high noon was complete. Not just not busy: This was post-Rapture quiet. Caito Fisheries, which had been emitting rich crab smells and working long shifts seven days a week, was motionless — an unplanned Christmas vacation week. Not a soul stirred in the sun on either boat ramp, at the Coast Guard Station or the mooring basis, where all the slots seemed full. Even the delicious aroma of Thanksgiving Coffee was missing, the big new factory and offices quiet.

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