Dungeness Crabs

Found from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska to south of San Francisco, the Dungeness crab is a species of crab with white-tipped claws and a brownish shell that inhabits eel-grass beds and muddy to sandy bottoms. Their range of depth goes from the low intertidal zone to depths in excess of 600 ft. The Dungeness crab gets its name from the town of Dungeness, located near Sequim, Washington where they were first harvested. Its scientific name, Cancer Magister, simply means "master crab" in Latin.

They may measure as much as 10 inches across the back in areas off the coast of Washington but the crab seldom exceeds 8 inches and normally averages slightly less than 7 inches of shell width. They are a popular delicacy, and are the most commercially important crab in the Pacific Northwest.

Dungeness crabs have a wide, hard shell which they must periodically molt in order to grow. Like all crabs, they have five pairs of legs, the foremost pair of which ends in claws which the crab uses both as defense and to tear apart large food items. The crab uses its smaller appendages to pass the food particles into its mouth. Once inside the crab's stomach, food is further digested by the gastric mill, a collection of tooth-like structures. Dungeness crabs prefer to eat clams, other crustaceans and small fish, but it is also an effective scavenger. They may also bury themselves completely in the sand if threatened.

Dungeness crabs may be caught by several methods, the most common being a trap commonly referred to as a crab pot. Crab pots are rigged of netting or mesh over an iron frame which has one or two tunnels (funnel shaped openings) for the entry of crabs. A trigger device prevents the crabs from escaping back through the tunnels, though most state and provincial regulations require an escape hatch bound with a biodegradable cord which will rot away and allow the crab to escape if the pot is lost. The pots are set in water depths of 20–150 feet and marked by a line buoy, often a plastic jug or Styrofoam block, which must be identified with the crabber's name and address. Pots are generally baited with herring, rockfish carcasses, salmon heads, or clams. They are usually checked daily, but may be left for several days. Another popular method, most commonly used by the sport fisherman, is the dip net. This method involves cruising by boat or wading slowly over sand flats and eel-grass beds where crabs are found and dipping the crabs with a wire and frame net.

Dungeness crabs are important to commercial fisheries in California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. They are highly prized by both commercial and sport fishermen alike. Commercial fisheries management is done on the basis of sex, size, and season. Commercial capture of females is prohibited and minimum size limits of commercial and sport harvest of male crabs are designed to allow most to mate at least once before capture. Annual exploitation rates exceeding 90% have resulted in a scarcity of large males that might reduce mating success among large females. The average commercial catch is about 17,000 tons per year. The commercial catch in California has fluctuated widely, almost cyclically, over the past 30 years.

 

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