State health and wildlife officials are opening another segment of the California coastline to Dungeness crab fishing, but coming so late in the season, it’s a bit of a mixed blessing.
Except for about a 50-mile span north of Humboldt Bay, the Department of Fish and Wildlife opened waters Tuesday from the Sonoma-Mendocino county line to the Oregon border.
The same waters will open for commercial fishing May 12. Commercial crabbers may start setting gear in the water at 8:01 a.m. Monday the agency said.
It’s unclear how much the openings will help the northernmost commercial crabbing fleets, which have been deprived for more than five months of harvesting the prized crustaceans because of a statewide closure from health risks related to a harmful algal bloom.
