Dont worry, you can still have Dungness crab for Thanksgiving.
Don't worry, you can still have Dungness crab for Thanksgiving. Sheila Fitzgerald/Shutterstock

Last Friday, officials at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that they are indefinitely delaying the opening of the commercial crab season along parts of the Washington coast. The season was scheduled to begin December 1. According to the Seattle Times, the delay was caused by dangerous levels of toxic domoic acid that were found in crabs.

Local crab lovers have been fearing this news, especially in light of California's recent ban on crab for the same reason. Oregon has also delayed the start of its crab season. Seasons will open when tests show the toxin has fallen to safe levels. (Recent tests show levels dropping in California crabs.)

Microscopic algae in the Pacific Ocean naturally produce domoic acid, but this year an unusually massive toxic algae bloom on the West Coast, caused by warmer ocean temperatures, has led to significantly higher levels in shellfish. When ingested in large quantities, domoic acid can cause diarrhea, nausea, and, in severe cases, permanent memory damage and even death. And unfortunately, cooking or freezing shellfish doesn't destroy the toxin.

So what does all this mean for Dungeness crab lovers in Seattle? According to Dale Erickson, owner of the U District’s University Seafood and Poultry, the news isn't entirely bleak.

"Oh, we're gonna have fresh crabs for the holiday," says Erickson. University Seafood is expecting a shipment tomorrow from Grays Harbor, an area of the coast where crabs have been tested at safe levels. "Those crabs are clean of that domoic acid," he says. "After [Thanksgiving], we'll work on Christmas. It's up to the state, of course. They'll keep testing."

When I asked Erickson how pricing has been affected, he said crabs are "going to be a little bit expensive." But, he added, "We've been around for 70 years, and we do have compassion for our customers. So sometimes we do back off on those higher prices and price things as best we can. And we'll do that with the crabs."

One final thing: If, like me, you enjoy slurping the sweet, slightly bigger, custardy crab fat out of the shell (it's delicious, and also tastes great mixed into Vietnamese garlic-butter-fish sauce noodles, which I like to make to accompany Dungeness crab), well, maybe don't. Apparently, toxins accumulate in the fat, so even if the meat has been declared safe, just to be cautious, officials recommend removing all of the fat before you eat the crabmeat.