Just take a drive down to the Historic Bayfront, and you will see stacks upon stacks of crab pots.
They don’t call Newport the “Dungeness Crab capital of the world” for nothing. West Coast fishermen have been busy prepping their pots for the commercial crab season, which happens to be Oregon's most valuable fishery.
The Historic Bayfront, which is known for its shops and fine dining, is also the heart of Newport’s working harbor. The fish plants operate year-round, but this time of year you’ll often see them prepping with fishermen for the busy season by loading and unloading pots to their boats while waiting for the arrival of crab season.
Dungeness crab season was scheduled to open Dec. 1, but testing shows crabs are too low in meat yield, and it was delayed until Dec. 16. Another round of testing will be done and then comes the battle for price from the fish buyers. We can’t wait for the season to start and that fresh catch coming in!