Help for local fishermen competing for crab may be on the way in the form of legislation establishing crab pot limits.
Proponents say the bill, written by Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, will not only ease competition from large boats but also will diminish the frenzy of the season's opening weeks by restraining the intensity of fishing. Fishermen catch most of the crab for the entire season during those early days. The season ends in June. Slowing the rate at which fishermen haul in their catch would allow crab lovers to enjoy fresh local crab longer, serving it at Super Bowl parties or cracking claws on Valentine's Day.
But the effects of the crab pot limit may be modest, fishermen and experts say, and the bill could be just a first step toward safeguarding the local fishery.
”It's not a silver bullet, but it's a starting point,” said Steve Hackett, chairman of the business school at Humboldt State, who has studied the Dungeness crab industry extensively.
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