With no end in sight to the now 3-month delay in California’s commercial crab season, fishermen and other businesses reliant on the usually lucrative Dungeness catch got their first bit of good news Thursday.

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced that low-interest disaster loans are now available to commercial anglers and other businesses affected by the continued closure, which stems from a potentially deadly neurotoxin affecting the fishery.

The loans, which max out at $2 million, with 4 percent interest, are the first significant help extended to crabbers, seafood processors and others who have been economically devastated by the foregone season. California crab landings are usually worth about $60 million a year or more.

Read the full story at the Press Democrat >>

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