My City By The Bay

Photo above - Fishing boats along the wharf by jodapoet

The opening of the crab season in San Francisco is an annual event.  From San Francisco to Santa Cruz the Pacific Ocean is the perfect home for Dungeness crabs.  Why?  The frigid waters.  Fishing boats and trawlers are lined up what seems to be for miles along Fisherman’s Wharf.  There are fishermen who work from dawn until dusk and have been doing so for centuries.  

Chinatown is one spot where they sell live crab which is bought right off the fishing boats docked along the bay.  Most of the crab you eat in various restaurants in the wharf and North Beach areas are provided to the restaurants directly from the fishermen along the wharf.  I have a friend who lives in my neighborhood and takes the streetcar and bus everyday to go to Chinatown for the fresh crab and other aquatic delights.

This year however, due to the economic crisis and the huge oil spill that happened last year on the bay,  not only are the crabs few and far between but the restaurants are not buying as much as they used to buy before the economy took a down turn.  As a result the fishermen are catching less crab - about a third of their normal catch and the restaurants are not seeing their usual patrons so there is a huge slow down.

In Santa Cruz fishermen decided to open their boats to the public and sell their catch right off the dock.  They did this because the restaurants in that area were only offering a fraction of what they normally paid to buy the crab.  So, the fishermen found they could make more money selling directly to the public.

When the catch is minimal for the local fishermen, the crab is bought from places like Oregon and shipped to the city.  For you tourists out there do not fret.  The restaurants at the wharf, North Beach and Chinatown always have fresh Dungeness crab available.

If any of you would like a list of restaurants serving Dungeness crab leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.

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