By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews
There are many factors that fishermen can’t control – the weather, the price of fuel, and oftentimes the price of Dungeness crab.
One thing they have absolute control over, however, is whether to fish at all.
And that’s what a significant portion of the Newport fleet chose not to do for nearly two weeks recently in an unofficial work stoppage aimed at boosting the prices being paid by processors. The goal was rooted in simple economics — shrink the relatively large volume of Dungeness crab being hauled in to prompt processors to increase per-pound prices that are at near-historic lows.
“In my case, I tied up for nine days,” said Tony Pettis, a Toledo crabber who normally would have been guiding his 60-foot F/V Heidi Sue to prime crabbing grounds off Newport. “A lot of us chose to do that. The $2 per pound the bigger buyers were offering just didn’t make economic sense for us to go out.”
It’s not unusual for individual boats to stay in port for short stints during the commercial crab season in hopes of seeing prices rise, Pettis said. What was different this time was the sheer number of vessels staying idle.
“I’m back out now because this is such an important time of year for us,” Pettis said. “But the truth is, there is just not enough market space for all boats to fish. As for where it goes from here, I just couldn’t tell you.”
That lack of certainty has remained a defining characteristic this year for owners and operators of Oregon’s 320-boat Dungeness fleet.
Although the season can legally open as early as Dec. 1, the start was pushed back along the central coast to Jan. 15 due to low meat levels in crabs tested by state managers. Related issues shoved openings of the north and south coast back even further, to Feb. 1 and Feb. 4, respectively.
For fishermen, that meant that they would miss all three of the critical high-demand dates of Christmas, New Years and the Chinese New Year. Compounding their woes were the large stocks of frozen crab that many large producers had left over from last year, when prices to crabbers surged well above $5 per pound.
“The inventory left over from last year, along with the uneven opening of the season, have really made for a wild year,” said Lori Steele, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association. “For a lot of the fleet, it’s been a tough one, for sure.”
Due to that delayed and staggered opening, Kelly Corbett, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife’s commercial crab project leader said in an email to YachatsNews, much is yet unknown about how the season and prices will ultimately unfold.
Based on information gathered so far this season, she wrote, “Coastwide landings currently total 11.5 million pounds for a total $28.5 million ex-vessel value at this time.”
A year-over-year comparison with the 2021-22 season is impossible, since last season opened Dec. 1, 2021. By this time last season, however, about 15.2 million pounds of crab had been landed.
The Dungeness crab fishery the most valuable single species commercial fishery in Oregon, harvesting a long-term average of 16 million pounds of crab per season. The $91.5 million paid to fishermen for last season’s catch bested the next nearest year’s total by nearly $20 million.
No sense fishing
If profits evaporate due to low prices, however, it makes sense to reconsider your options, said long-time Newport crabber Bob Kemp, who joined many others in the recent decision to remain in port.
“The price I was being offered for my next catch was $2 per pound,” said Kemp, who owns the 51-foot F/V My Lee. “I just decided to wait it out for a while.”
Kemp said he has no beef with the generally larger-sized vessels that can stay out on the water for days at a time and make up in volume for low per-pound offerings.
“I’m a scratcher,” he said, “someone who can get by on far fewer crabs per pot than those bigger operations. With a lot of the available crab already caught, they’ll be moving on pretty soon. Me? I’ll be right here.”
Still, in what has been a chaotic season for the fleet, at least one group has emerged as a clear winner this year – consumers.
Even industry veterans don’t recall being able to walk into grocery stores and supermarkets and stroll out with cooked whole crabs selling, in some instances, for less than $5 per pound.
“It’s definitely a consumers’ market,” said Tim Novotny, executive director of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission. “Prices haven’t been this low in years.”
Coastal restaurants, some of which winced at the prices they had to charge even a year ago due to soaring per-pound rates, appear pleased.
“A lot of folks come to the coast just to have the chance to eat fresh Dungeness crab,” said Michelle Korgan, who owns Ona restaurant in Yachats. “We’re happy to have crab on the menu, that’s for sure.”
- Dana Tims is an Oregon freelance writer who contributes regularly to YachatsNews.com. He can be reached at DanaTims24@gmail.com