At first blush, the Great Crab Strike of November 2005 might sound like another organized labor stunt. But a quick review of the facts reveals a far more entrepreneurial story.

Although the season opened on Nov. 15, Bay Area crab fisherman have left their boats tied up while they haggled over prices with the largest company that processes their catch.  In a great example of market forces at work, the independent crab fisherman, represented by the Crab Boat Owners Assocation of San Francisco, refused to catch any Dungeness crab until the processor, Pacific Seafood, an Oregon-based company, raised the per pound price it was willing to pay.

While there are other processors, Pacific Seafood has a near-monopoly on the market, and is using (abusing?) it’s power to dictate the price.  At the official start of the season, the two sides were 35 cents apart on the per pound price of crab.  The crab fisherman wanted $1.85 a pound, a dime increase over last year’s price.  Pacific Seafood initially said that it would only pay $1.50, then raised their offfer to $1.65 before dropping it back to $1.25 the Friday before Thanksgiving.  Yesterday, the giant processor agreed to keep paying the price they paid last year–$1.75 per pound.  I was glad to see the crab fishermen, who are independent business owners, hold out for the price that they needed.  With the gas prices we’re seeing this year, there is no way that their costs are lower than last year’s. 

For those of us who love our crab, it’s great news.  The crab boats will start work immediately, which makes restaurateurs and home cooks happy, happy people.  So, melt your butter and get out your crab crackers.  Fresh California Dungenous crab will soon be at your local meat market.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 27th, 2005 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.