Crab: Dungeness

Dungeness crab

Kani

Dungeness crab are caught on shallow sandy bottoms from Monterey California to the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. They are caught using baited traps that are deployed for 1 to 10 days. These crabs are a SeaChoice best choice because they are relatively fast growing, mature at a young age, and are captured using a technology that does little harm to other types of marine life. Fisheries regulations prohibit the retention of immature and female crabs which are easily released unharmed from the traps. Dungeness crabs are the most sustainable choice of crab on the market and are available year round.

Dungeness crabs have a “low” inherent vulnerability to fishing pressure, mostly due to their early age of first maturity.

Dungeness crab populations are fully exploited but are not considered overfished due to safeguards in the management strategy. Generally crab stocks appear healthy based on landings; however there is little doubt that this species is fully fished and that the size and sex distributions are skewed from natural conditions.

Dungeness crabs are normally caught with traps or highly selective gear. Although the bycatch ratio has not been formally derived it is likely less than 1%. Traps are required to have escape holes that are a minimum of 110 mm in diameter to allow undersized crabs to escape.

Dungeness crabs are captured by trap gear on shallow sandy bottoms. This type of gear is thought to have some impact on bottom habitats from scouring by wave action and when the gear is retrieved, but shallow sandy bottoms are considered to be quite resilient to disturbance.

Overall the management technique applied has maintained stock productivity over time and is deemed effective.

What kind of crab is this?

Where was it caught?

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