After months of delays, the Dungeness crab season is officially open.
Fishing boats dropped their pots Monday morning, and fishermen hope to have fresh crab available by mid-week.
The season was delayed by whales and a price dispute.
"Autumn Gale" captain Chris Waugh was preparing bait over the weekend.
"We’ll go out and we’ll drop gear," he told KCBS Radio. "We’ve got a 48-hour window where they’re going to give us some space because there’s some weather coming in, so the smaller boats can get out with the bigger boats, the local fleet. So, that’s cool. They came to a good agreement together, and it’s going to work out good I think."
Waugh left at 3 a.m. Monday and plans to bring his first load back in on Wednesday afternoon.
He’ll get $2.75 a pound, but that's not enough to make up for all he lost during the holidays.
"It’s hard to put a price on losing the holiday markets," Waugh said. "Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s - yeah, it’s a big blow to all the local live buyers for sure."
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