Today is the first day of Dungeness Crab season, at least near San Francisco. It starts December 1st in the North Bay, which I find odd. Why would about 50 miles matter to a Dungeness Crab? But, apparently the weather matters too, sort of like this year's grape harvests. The warm fall weather, then the sudden rain in October made the wineries rush to get in the grapes. How does that relate to crabs? Apparently it does, here.
I guess it's the warmer water that affects when a crab molts that old shell off and that's causing a delay in opening the season, although the article doesn't spell that out. It says the season is delayed because the crabs haven't "filled out." What really happens is that the new shell they grow comes in at a size or so bigger than their inside body is and it takes a couple of weeks for the crab's body to "fill out" the new shell, and we certainly don't want to buy a puny crab from Safeway!
Does that mean, when we crack open the shell and find a skinny crab inside, we can take it back? At $20 a pound, I may try it. Or, I may just eat chicken.
And another thing. If last season was a record season, bringing in 16.8 million pounds of crabs, why are these things so expensive? They should be a dime a dozen.
I didn't know a crab had to grow into its shell. Is that why Americans are fat? Are we buying clothes too big that we have to grow into? One thing leads to another...thought.
Dave
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