SANTA CRUZ – Thanksgiving tables may be crab-less this year.
Dungeness crab season officially opened last week but commercial crabbing boats are still tied at the dock as buyers and fishermen remain locked in a price dispute. Even if the price is settled today, getting pots into the water and hauling the harvest back to the harbor will take two or three days.
Fishermen from Santa Cruz to Bodega Bay are sitting tight until they get $2.50 per pound for their catch. Some seafood processors are holding out at $2 per pound. A quiet Santa Cruz harbor and crab traps stacked high on bobbing boats testified that the strike lingers on.
Joe Tomasello, a fisherman from Santa Cruz, said that the price should reflect the rising cost of fuel and equipment. Fuel is ringing in about a dollar more than last year, but wholesalers want to pay the same price for crab. Tomasello said he is not happy to be sitting in the harbor.
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