Update – 12/31/2015 – Commercial and Recreational Rock Crab and Recreational Dungeness Crab Fisheries Open in Southern Portion of the State
Update – 12/18/2015 Results from the latest crab tests conducted by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) continue to show that some areas in the Santa Barbara fishing grounds contain crab that exceed the alert level (greater than 30 parts per million) for the neurotoxin, domoic acid. At this time, the commercial and recreational fisheries for Dungeness crab and rock crab north of the Santa Barbara-Ventura county line remain closed, as well as state waters around Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel islands in the northern Channel Islands archipelago.
This week, crab samples were collected between Santa Barbara and Crescent City. Results from samples are expected in the next few weeks. The reopening of specified closed areas will not occur until the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and the CDPH issue recommendations that indicate crab in a particular area is safe to eat.
The latest domoic acid crab test results will continue to be posted on the CDPH website.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Dungeness crab and rock crab information hotline – (831) 649-2883 – will continue to provide callers with the status of the crab seasons as testing continues. The hotline is updated weekly by 1 p.m. on Wednesday, or as soon as new information becomes available.
For further information, please visit the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s crab website.
Post by Christy Juhasz, CDFW Marine Environmental Scientist ♦ CDFW photo of rock crab
Marine Management News 
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