Fishing crews head to sea as delayed Dungeness crab season opens
SAN FRANCISCO -- Thursday was the day local crab fisherman had been waiting for after months of delays because of whale entanglement restrictions.
Jonathan Tin is a deckhand aboard the commercial fishing boat Pale Horse and he was ready to get to work to bring home the paycheck he hasn't seen in months.
"We started rigging the gear in October. We're really excited to see what's in these crab pots," Tin said.
The San Francisco native has been working as a commercial fisherman for seven years after getting hooked doing the job while attending college.
"I love everything about it. I love being out here in the ocean. I love working hard, running the gear. The harder you work the more money you're going to make," Tin said.
Just after midnight Thursday morning, he and his crewmates start running the pots.
"All of these dots (on screen), every single one is a crab pot. These are the traffic lanes we stay out of so we don't lose our gear," said Pale Horse skipper Capt. Brand Little with The Little Fish Company.
They'll bring home some 13,000 pounds of crab, a bit shy of what they were hoping for but still worth the pain and hard work.
"It doesn't look like it's quite as much as we thought it was going to be here. But still probably better than average," Capt. Little said.
"I can't wait for a nap, an all-night nap," said deckhand Hunter Nguyen.
"I'm sleep-deprived, tired and sore," deckhand Justin Middleton added.
"I'd like to see this again tomorrow or tonight. Hope it lasts," Tin said.
Tin and the crew of the Pale Horse will soon be heading back out to sea with no break. Time is ticking on the harvest which will dwindle quickly.
Captain Little predicts that, in two to three weeks, their daily catch will decrease to about 2,500 pounds per trip.
Local fishermen are selling live crab at Fisherman's Wharf all day including at Pier 45.
State restrictions limit each fleet to 50 percent of their permit capacity.