-By Bay City News Service and Patch
Dozens of Bay Area crab boats headed out to sea after a weeklong standoff over the price of fresh Dungeness crab ended on December 11, an industry spokesman said.
Crab fishing boats in San Francisco, Bodega Bay and Half Moon Bay
had been idle since Dec. 5, when dockside fish brokers tried to offer a price below $3 per pound for Dungeness crab, said Larry Collins, president of the Crab Boat Owners Association in San Francisco.
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Collins said an agreement has been reached between fishermen and brokers that would put crab boats back in operation and fresh crab back on Bay Area menus.
Mollie Stone’s Market received a shipment of Dungeness mid-afternoon on December 13.
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"We got the $3 per pound we were asking for," Collins said on December 11.
Angel Cincotta, a spokeswoman for San Francisco-based fish broker
Alioto-Lazio Fish Company, confirmed the agreement and said fresh crab would start showing up in supermarkets and restaurants by Friday.
"We're heading out tomorrow," he said on December 11.
John Draper, assistant harbormaster at Pillar Point Harbor in Half
Moon Bay, said as many as 50 boats were preparing to head out as early as the evening of December 11.
"They're all going to head out at midnight," he said.
Crab season opened in Bay Area fisheries on Nov. 15 and runs
through June, according to the Department of Fish and Game.
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