But as rising ocean temperatures threaten to make fishery closures routine, it will be even harder to count on crab for holiday meals—or livelihoods. Over the past decade, warming sea waters have produced harmful algal blooms that contaminate crab meat with domoic acid, a neurotoxin that can cause seizures, memory loss and other serious symptoms and has been blamed for poisoning and stranding scores of sea lions in California every year. State officials delayed three out of the last six crab seasons to protect public health after an unprecedented multiyear marine heat wave, dubbed “the blob,” hit the north Pacific Ocean in 2013.
Dungeness Crab
Dungeness Crab Impacted by Acidification
“This is the first study that demonstrates that larval crabs are already affected by ocean acidification in the natural environment, and builds on previous understanding of ocean acidification impacts on pteropods,” said lead author Nina Bednarsek, senior scientist with the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project. “If the crabs are affected already, we really need to make sure we start to pay much more attention to various components of the food chain before it is too late.”
Dead-Zones on US West Coast Now Normal
Scientists say West Coast waters now have a hypoxia season, or dead-zone season, just like the wildfire season. Hypoxia is a condition in which the ocean water close to the seafloor has such low levels of dissolved oxygen that the… Read More ›
Crab Season Opens with Entanglement Concerns
The commercial Dungeness crab fishery will open north of Sonoma County on Monday after several delays needed to allow the crustaceans to mature before the harvest begins. The northern season, which usually starts Dec. 1, is opening two months after… Read More ›