Fishermen report good haul from opening day of crab season

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- If the rest of crab season is anything like Saturday's opening day, fishermen and consumers should be happy for weeks to come.

The first haul from the crab boat "Maureen" came back to Pier 45 hauling almost 4,000 pounds of plump and healthy crustaceans.

"Fishing's excellent," said the boat's captain, Bobby Maharry. "The crabs are beautiful!"

Maharry and hundreds of other crabbers have been chasing crustaceans since Thursday, when many began setting crab pots beyond the Golden Gate. But where exactly? Nobody's saying.

"Oh, that's a secret!" Maharry exclaimed. "I don't even tell my own mother."

"I think they (crabs) look great," said Max Boland with Alber's Seafood. "Hard shell, seem to be full."

Boland was so impressed with the haul that he bought almost 40,000 pounds of crabs for his distributor, Alber's Seafood.

"Thank god we got started on time," Larry Collins said. "And the crabs coming in, everything's looking beautiful."

Collins is president of the Crab Boat Owners Association. He reports little drama with this year's crab price negotiations -- $3 per pound, which is the same rate as last year. But in 2013, a price dispute delayed the start of the season for two weeks.

"Crabbers want more, and the fish buyers want to pay less," Collins said. "Every year, it's just human nature, we just do the same dance."

For many of these crabs, the journey has only begun. Some of them will be shipped as far away as China.

The abundance of crabs seems to be happening despite new crab pot limits by the state -- 175 to 500 per boat.

After a long 48 hours at sea, the quest for more crab begins again Sunday for Maharry. But for now at least, he says, "We're happy, my wife's gonna be happy."

Crab season runs through June 2015.