The first harvest of fresh Dungeness crab is in and folks are lining up to purchase the long-awaited crustaceans. Fisherman’s Market in Eugene was bustling with customers Thursday morning.
As soon as the west Eugene fish market opened, lines stretched out the door with hungry folks looking to snag some of the first crabs of the season. Staff know the look—folks are crazy for crab!
Rob Keiser, a fish monger at Fisherman’s Market, said their driver got to the docks on the Oregon Coast at 7 a.m. Thursday and brought back the first haul of the season. He said the crab has one of the highest yield tests he’s seen in his 12 seasons with the market.
“They're 1.75 to 2 1/4 pounds,” he said. "The starting price is $8.99 a pound. You will see that price rise and as the days go by and we make it to the docks but as of now, it’s the cheapest it will be all year long.”
Fisherman’s Market has a trusty F-250 truck which runs on recycled vegetable oil from their fryers.
“It runs off our fish and chips oil,” Keiser said. “We get about 7,500 miles to the tank of diesel. So, we're leaving a very small carbon footprint on our way down to the coast. We take that truck straight to the dock, load crab directly off the boat and drive it straight back to the market and load it into our live tank.”
Keiser said with a laugh, "when you're driving on Highway 126 past their truck, there’s a chance you might catch a whiff of fried fish and french fries!"
Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab season was supposed to start on Dec. 1 but was delayed because Washington crabs did not achieve the meat fill requirements.
Keiser said that’s okay: “Crabs made it here for Christmas and that’s what matters.”
