December 8, 2022 3:40 a.m.

The ocean commercial Dungeness crab season remains closed as round two of pre-season testing shows crabs remain too low in meat yield in some areas.

A release from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said elevated domoic acid is still detected in some crab viscera.

Round three of crab meat yield and biotoxin testing will occur in the coming weeks. Results help determine if the season opens December 31st or is further delayed or split into areas with different opening dates.

Targeted to open at the start of December, Oregon’s ocean commercial Dungeness crab season can be delayed so consumers get a high-quality product and crabs are not wasted.

ODFW said that Oregon, California, and Washington coordinate Dungeness crab quality testing and the commercial season opening dates. California and Washington are also delaying their commercial seasons until at least December 31st.

The release said ODFW tests crabs out of Oregon’s six major crabbing ports in partnership with the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, Oregon Department of Agriculture and the commercial Dungeness crab industry.