Crabbing at Pillar Point Harbor, North Jetty

[DIYLureJunky]

I took my friend to Pacifica pier for crabbing around 7:30AM last Saturday . The wave was very strong that day, not even an 8 oz weight can hold bottom. The big wave also shook the pier a bit. So, we packed up and went to Pillar Point Harbor and fish the North Jetty. The wave was strong still, so we fish the harbor side. We manage 4 rock crabs total in about half an hour and then we have to leave. My friend got a call that his Dad was in the hospital for a stomach ache. We got 2 crabs that are 6.5 inches, and 2 crabs a little over 5.5 inches.

 

[DIYLureJunky]

 

[achu]

very nice

 

[DIYLureJunky]

Went back to the jetty last Saturday. Wave was moving and I got splash 3 times. I got all wet, but it was not a cold morning. I manage to get 5 keepers rock crabs in 2 and a half hours of crabbing. I called it a day after that, don't feel good in we clothes. Anyway, 2 of the 5 crabs have the pincers removed. Why do people do thing like that?

 

[ba_fisher3]

Some people are probably too lazy to pick the body meat of the rock crabs, so they figure instead of putting the crab's body in trash, they would return it to sea hoping that they would survive and grow the claws back. This is actually a common practice in Florida with stone crabs, which are somewhat similar to our rock crabs. It's unclear how many of the stone crabs survive. Wikipedia says "Mortality rates for declawed crabs are unknown; 20% of landed claws are regrown,[5] while mortality rates of 47% for doubly amputated crabs and 28% for single amputees have been observed experimentally.".

Does anyone know if declawing is legal in California? I read somewhere that it used to be legal but have been outlawed, but I can't find any information in the CDFW web site.