photo credit: CDFW

Commercial crab season the Sonoma Coast is less than a week away.

Soon, you'll be able to find local Dungeness crab at a seafood counter near you.

Late and limited is becoming the new norm for commercial crabbers in California, but Dungeness crabbing season is set to open on January 5th from the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to Point Conception.

There will be a restriction on the number of traps to protect migrating humpback whales.

In early December state wildlife officials observed 34 humpbacks in the waters off the Bay Area.

Once boats motor out on the first Monday of January 2026, fresh caught California Dungeness crab won't be far behind them.

"So, we work with Monterey Bay Aquarium with their sustainability program and so you'll see at our counter we'll have green all the way to red," said Hayley Daniels.

Daniels manages the seafood sections for Oliver's Markets' four Sonoma County grocery stores.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch offers guidance to grocers like Daniels with its green-yellow-red ratings.

"So, sustainable, not so sustainable and you probably should make a pass just because it's not as sustainable as it could be," Daniels said.

Those ratings account for factors like a species population health, fishery management, and impacts to other species and the ecosystem.

California's closely managed Dungeness crab fishery, "it is green, it is sustainable," Daniels said.

The commercial crab season north of Sonoma County to the Oregon border is further delayed due to elevated levels of domoic acid.

The harmful, but naturally occurring toxin has showed up in testing of crabs caught north of the Sonoma-Mendocino line, but the commercial season is expected to open north to Oregon on January 15th.