Oregon Dungeness crab fishermen and seafood processor representatives participating in state-supervised crab price negotiations have agreed on an opening price for the 2011/2012 Dungeness crab season along the Oregon coast. That agreement has been reviewed and approved by Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Katy Coba.
The harvest for the 2011/2012 season will begin at 12:01 a.m, on Thursday.
The ODA-supervised negotiations, which involved the state's five port crab marketing associations and five seafood processors, came to a successful conclusion when the parties agreed to set the "ex-vessel" (to-the-boat) price at $2.30 per pound, making it the highest opening season price since supervised price negotiations began in 2003.
Word of the settlement allowed crabbers to begin setting their pots in the ocean Monday as part of the "pre soak" period prior to Thursday's opening of the season. Normally, the Dungeness crab season begins December 1. However, crab tested by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission earlier this year did not meat the minimum "meat fill" requirements used by the state to ensure that quality standards are met. The Dec. 15 opening has allowed the meat fill requirements to be reached.
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