SAN FRANCISCO – Nearly 100,000 pounds of live Dungeness crab apparently caught by Oregon fishermen near the Farallones are headed to Bay Area seafood wholesalers for distribution to consumers -- a major blow to local commercial fishermen.

 Hundreds of fishermen in San Francisco, Bodega Bay and Half Moon Bay have been desperately trying to keep untested crab off local dinner plates in the wake of the Cosco Busan fuel spill in San Francisco Bay. They have vowed not to harvest crab until the state, which has been testing specimens caught locally, confirms the crabs are not contaminated. Results are due Nov. 28.

 Most Bay Area seafood wholesalers and distributors had agreed not to purchase locally caught Dungeness. The consensus was that one sick consumer could ruin the entire crab season, which began Thursday.

 But at about 12:10 a.m. Tuesday, two Oregon fishing boats that had been seen setting their crab gear outside the Golden Gate docked at a Monterey commercial pier. There, working under cover of darkness and well into the morning, workers from a seafood wholesaler, Royal Seafood, offloaded nearly 100,000 pounds of Dungeness from the holding tanks of the vessels Fierce Contender and Chevelle.

 The crabs were loaded onto waiting refrigerated trucks, which the wholesaler said were headed to San Francisco.

 "The whole thing is totally disheartening," said Larry Collins, president of the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association. "We're trying to do the right thing here. We need to know the crab are safe before they get to the buyers and consumers."

 The local fishermen had been so determined not to allow any local crab to enter the market that members of one crabbers' association confronted a fisherman who brought a small load of crab to a Bodega Bay dock.

 Fisherman Tony Annelo, an association member, paid the fisherman nearly $1,000 for the catch, which he then freed, in exchange for the boat owner's vow that he refrain from fishing until further notice.

 It was unclear Tuesday whether anyone was purchasing the crab that was unloaded in Monterey, but many buyers said they weren't buying.

 Joe Pennisi, who owns Royal Seafood in Monterey and struck a deal with the owners of the out-of-state boats to offload their catch, said much of the crab was going to be offered to buyers at Pier 45 in San Francisco.

 But several seafood buyers at Pier 45 said they turned down an offer to purchase the crab.

"We were approached about cooking some of the crab for a wholesaler here," said Ron Pezzolo, a seafood buyer and processor at Pier 45. "We declined. There was absolutely no way we were touching that crab."

 Pezzolo said he has continued to bring in what Dungeness he can from a limited commercial fishery in Washington.

 "It would be the easiest thing for us to buy that crab (from Monterey)," Pezzolo said. "But there's a bigger issue here than making a dollar."

 At Caito Fisheries, one of the largest wholesalers at Fisherman's Wharf, no live Dungeness are available. Jeanette Caito, who works at the business owned by her brother John Caito, said she has no intention of bringing in any crab caught from the Gulf of the Farallones until toxicology test results come back clean.

 "We want nothing to do with it until there's clearance," she said.

 Caito Fisheries typically sells upwards of 750,000 pounds of Dungeness between the commercial opener and Thanksgiving, Jeanette Caito said. "This year, none," she said.

During the offloading in Monterey, at least seven trucks - some of them 18-wheelers - waiting at the dock to be loaded with crab.

 Many of the trucks, Pennisi said, were headed for seafood processors and wholesalers in San Francisco, "to the same people we usually buy from."

 One of the trucks waiting for crab was registered to seafood wholesaler Ken Sio Inc. in Oakland. The business could not be reached for comment.

 Its neighbor, NorCal Seafood, has been distributing crab from Washington, said owner Kevin Lee.

 "We don't have crab from here yet," Lee said Tuesday.

 The Oregon boats were unable to deliver their catch directly to potential buyers in San Francisco, as the bay is within the area closed by the state. Boats with live-well holding tanks are not allowed to pump in water -- to keep their catch alive -- within the closed areas.

 The Oregon boats could have unloaded their catch in either Bodega Bay or Half Moon Bay instead of Monterey, but it was made clear last week by some of the largest local seafood wholesalers that they were not interested in untested crab from the gulf -- and there probably wouldn't be any crew willing to offload the catch.

 Buyers such as Mike Lucas, president of North Coast Fisheries, a large seafood wholesaler in Santa Rosa with dock space in Bodega Bay, have stated that they are not interested in untested crab from the Gulf of the Farallones.

 "We're looking elsewhere for now," Lucas said last week.

 A call to Dennis Sturgell, owner of the Fierce Contender, was not returned.

Pennisi said the boats just happened to arrive in the middle of the night. He said the two boats were carrying a total of nearly 100,000 pounds of live Dungeness.

 "These are big boats ... and they had to offload," Pennisi said.

 Collins, whose own boat, the Autumn Gale, remains idle at Fisherman's Wharf, said he has been aware of the two out-of-state boats fishing the crabbing grounds outside the Golden Gate since the season opened last Thursday.

 "We knew they were out there," Collins said. "And we knew they would eventually find a place to offload. Unfortunately, there are always going to be guys that just don't care."

 Thus far, at least two lawsuits have been filed in connection with the 58,000-gallon fuel spill's effect on crab fishing. Last week, San Francisco lawyer William Audet filed a class-action suit in federal court on behalf of crab fishermen, seeking at least $100 million in damages for loss of income.

 In San Francisco Superior Court, Bay Area fishermen John Tarantino and Steven Fitz filed suit, asking that the owners and operators of the ship pay for the losses they are incurring and for a fund to monitor marine life in the bay and nearby ocean.

 Last Wednesday, the Department of Fish and Game outlined the area of closure, amounting to a 3-mile-wide band of ocean between Pedro Point in San Mateo County and Marin's Point Reyes, along with all San Francisco Bay waters west of the Carquinez Bridge.

 That left open to crabbing nearly all the traditional Dungeness ground outside the Golden Gate, where the large Oregon boats are believed to have set and hauled their crab gear.

The suit on behalf of the fishermen was filed Tuesday by Burlingame law firm Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, specialists in class actions. – San Francisco Chronicle

One day last year, I was trout fishing in the Upper Klamath River, near the Oregon border. Arriving at dawn, I was dismayed to find a sign on this picture-perfect river that showed only six areas open for fishing on this stretch of water. The last stretch of the river, before becoming an Oregon river, was closed to angling and called an "in river hatchery."

 After driving more than half the length of the state to fish, I was outraged.

 Dispirited, I pulled up to the first "open area," got out of my truck and took my gear down to the river. My second cast scored a nice rainbow trout. As did the next. I placed my feet carefully, and cast again. The fish leapt in the air and threw the spinner off to the side. Several casts later and I had caught my limit.

 I did this for three days in a row. The hatchery up the river had worked as a practical and natural fish reserve that had produced a large number of fish that now populate the fishable stretch of the river. A few days of great fishing changed my view of the closures. Fish reserves now seemed like a pretty good idea.

 The network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that the state Fish and Game Commission is designing with public input to run the length of the California Coast will produce similar benefits to the fish in our ocean. The first part of this network, established between Half Moon Bay and Santa Barbara in September, has left plenty of areas open to recreational fishing (more than 80 percent of the region), while preserving important areas to operate as a natural system of "hatcheries."

 Marine scientists tell us that marine reserves where fishing is not allowed increase the number, diversity, size and fertility of fish found both inside and outside of the protected areas. It's common sense that when fish are given areas to feed, breed and grow, they grow healthier, more fertile and larger. And that makes for better fishing. – Sportsman Jim Webb of San Luis Obispo writing in the San Francisco Chronicle

Oregon crabbers fear the new 14-day rule

COOS BAY — Crabbers are getting ready to set their gear but a few are concerned about a new regulation this year: The 14-day rule. It’s no secret that with the commercial crab season also comes the worst weather of the year: Storms with 30-foot waves, rain that doesn’t stop for days and wind that can topple trees. Some of the bigger boats, the steel vessels, can handle the weather. It’s often safer for them to stay at sea and ride out a storm rather than risk crossing a bar.

Still, many don’t run the risk.

And the smaller boats never do. The captains of those boats seek the parameters of the weather windows that will allow them to leave the harbor and make it back before the storm hits: Swells of only a certain height, winds lower than so many knots.

 Oregon’s new regulation relates to gear left unattended and reads: “It is unlawful for commercial purposes to have Dungeness crab gear deployed in the Pacific Ocean or Columbia River more than 14 days without making a landing of Dungeness crab.”

Some small-boat owners say the rule is a death sentence, forcing boats to fish in rough weather.

The state says that bad weather is understandable and it would never expect fishermen to cross rough bars to tend their gear — after all, neither would enforcement boats.

Abuse triggered rule

 The 14-day rule was a compromise, worked out during industry meetings, discussions among the fleet and at Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission meetings.

 Flagrant abuse by some boats to leave their gear in the ocean for weeks or months at a time — thereby staking out territory without actually using it and possibly leaving crab stuck in pots for days — was the real issue, Oregon State Police Lt. Jeff Samuels said.

Crabbers fishing legally couldn’t access those pots, Samuels said.

Oregon went through a grueling process to institute a pot limit program a couple years ago. Some crabbers say it pitted fishermen against fishermen, with bad feelings among some of the fleet who invested heavily in gear but were allocated fewer pots to fish.

 The state’s program has three tiers: 200 pots, 300 and 500. Fishermen get a permit based on past fishing practice. Washington has only two tiers, a 300-pot tier and a 500.

 But there are unintended consequences of any new program.

 “There was some cheating going on,” Samuels said of the 2006-07 season, the first to implement the pot limit rules.  

 The OSP worked with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Coast Guard for two weeks in January and February, patrolling the crab grounds. They found more than 200 violations of the pot limit regulations and seized more than 100 unlawful crab pots from about 14 boats.

OSP also received tips from fishermen, Samuels said.

He said instances such as one boat’s pots being fished while the boat was in drydock, multiple permit holders using one vessel to fish all the pots, or one boat’s pots left in the ocean while the boat was fishing in Alaska were reported.

Other violations could have occurred, but the problem is that OSP would have to actually catch the boat running its gear — not an easy task with time, budget and personnel constraints.

“This rule is about giving enforcement a tool to combat those types of events,” Samuels said.

Discretion is needed

The rule still has small-boat crabbers concerned.

In Pacific City, fishermen trailer their boats to the beach, then launch the small wooden dories through the surf.

Dory fisherman Craig Wenrick said he said he attended the October commission meeting at which the 14-day regulation was adopted and, after reviewing his records, found at least two weeks of every year that he couldn’t access his gear.

“It’s strictly weather-related,” he said. “I don’t have many options.”

Port Orford is another small-boat port. Boats there are lifted out of the water by crane after fishing trips.

Crabber Chris Aiello said the rule doesn’t allow for non-weather-related events, such as a death in the family, breakdowns or something else.

“But it’s still valued to maintain the integrity of one boat, one set of gear,” Aiello said.

Although he can see the need for the rule, it’s still a concern.

“That’s what worries us – if they (enforcement) go by the letter of the law, if anyone can’t pull their gear for 14 days, they can get a ticket,” Aiello said. “The State Police will have to use discretion.”

And discretion is exactly what Samuels said the police have in mind.

“It’s not about the State Police having someone tracking fish tickets,” he said.

The key to bringing any formal legal action against a crab pot permit holder will still be proof: Police will have to get in a boat, cross a bar and go to sea to document the location and identity of the permit holder’s pots the state suspects may be left unattended or being fished illegally.

If there’s bad weather keeping boats — large or small — at dock, local troops will know about it, Samuels said.

 “We aren’t going out in bad weather, either.” – Coos Bay World