Gov. Brown requests federal disaster aid for California crabbers

Gov. Jerry Brown asked the Obama Administration on Tuesday to declare California’s crab fishery a federal disaster, a move that could free up money for those whose livelihoods have been harmed by the closure of the state’s crabbing season.

The request submitted by Brown to U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker states that nearly $49 million has been lost by fishermen unable to pursue Dungeness and rock crab because of a toxic algae bloom off the coast.

“Crabs are a vital component of California’s natural resources and provide significant aesthetic, recreational, commercial, cultural and economic benefits to our state,” Brown wrote.

Northern California’s commercial Dungeness crab season, scheduled to run Nov. 15 to June 30, hasn’t opened because the crustacean was tainted with domoic acid, a neurotoxin produced by the giant algae bloom that emerged last year in California’s unusually warm ocean waters.