California's Dungeness crab season will not open in time for Christmas.
The San Jose Mercury News reports the latest tests of crab from Crescent City to Monterey this month show levels of domoic acid, a neurotoxin produced by microscopic algae, have not dropped below federal safety limits in most fishing grounds on the North and Central coasts.
The season could open sometime in January.
There is a sliver of hope for crab lovers. Determined shoppers should be able to find some out-of-state crab. But supplies are limited, and prices are high, in some cases, twice the usual amount. Much of it is frozen, not live or freshly caught, the newspaper reports.
In mild doses, domoic acid causes gastrointestinal illness and in rare cases may be fatal.
