Despite a late start to the season, it looks like Dungeness crab landings in Oregon might surpass last year’s numbers. KLCC’s Deonna Anderson has more.
Over 21-million pounds of Dungeness crab have been caught in Oregon since January. The season goes until August.
While it’s not yet a record year – that was 2005 with over 33-million pounds -- the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission says it’s more than what they were expecting.
But they’re not sure why the crustaceans are so prolific. Here’s Tim Novotny from the organization.
“The Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission has been working with scientists in recent years to fund some studies and work with some people to get studies going to try to figure out why crab have up years and down years but at this point nothing definitive has been proven,” he says.
One theory is that warmer water from the past few years has made crab grow faster. Another theory is related to migration but Novotny says it’s hard to tell.
