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South Coast ports hope to join Dungeness opener Friday Dec 22, 2017 at 4:38 PM Dec 22, 2017 at 4:38 PM Mark Freeman Mail Tribune @MTwriterFreeman Commercial crabbing leaders hope South Coast ports can join the rest of Oregon in the mid-January opener to the commercial Dungeness season that so far has been dogged by slow growth rates and unhealthy toxin levels in the state's most sought-after fishery. Fishery managers in the three Western states opted Thursday to open the season Jan. 15, the latest possible date it can open under the tri-state agreement. Oregon's open fishing waters will be from Cape Blanco near Port Orford north to the Washington border because tests show Dungeness in those waters have cleansed themselves of potentially unhealthy levels of domoic acid, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Tests on Dungeness sampled last week off Brookings showed domoic acid levels slightly above the threshold for opening the recreational season and positioning South Coast crabbers to join the rest of Oregon's fleet pulling pots on Martin Luther King Day. The crab off Brookings are set to be sampled for testing again Saturday in what Dungeness managers hope will be the first of two consecutive samples below the threshold, allowing the closure to be lifted on the cusp of the scheduled opener. "There's as good a chance as any that can happen," said Hugh Link, executive director of the Charleston-based Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission. "We need those two all-clears in a row to open." Meanwhile, growth rates on Dungeness that delayed the original Dec. 1 commercial opener remain low, according to the ODFW. Crabs sampled Dec. 14-15 showed the required 25 percent meat content throughout most of the state except off Astoria (22 percent), Port Orford (21 percent) and Brookings (18.7 percent), ODFW records show. "Presumably, they'll continue to fill out until the 15th," said Troy Buell, the ODFW's state fishery management program manager in Newport. "That is the latest we can delay the start." However, unhealthy domoic acid levels trump meat-fill levels before the South Coast season can begin. "There's a potential it can open," Buell said. "We just don't know." Domoic acid, or amnesic shellfish toxin, can cause minor to severe illness and even death in humans. Severe poisoning can result in dizziness, headaches, vomiting and diarrhea. More severe cases can result in memory loss and death. Shellfish toxins are produced by algae and originate in the ocean, and are most readily absorbed by filter-feeders such as razor clams. Dungeness most commonly get it from eating razor clams. The Oregon fleet sports 425 ships with crabbing permits, with 320 boats landing crab in Oregon ports last season, which also opened late. The last time the season opened at its normal Dec. 1 date was 2014, with recent years delayed either by low meat-fill rates or domoic acid levels in crabs, but not both. "Mother Nature's really been throwing us a curve the past three years," Link said. "It's really unpredictable. But at least we can see light at the end of the tunnel." Dungeness crab is by far Oregon's most valuable commercial fishery. Last year's season opener was also delayed, but the 20.4 million pounds of Dungeness landed fetched a record $62.7 million to the fleet. Last year's landings were about 22 percent higher than the 10-year average, according to the ODFW. — Reach Mail Tribune reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or . Follow him on Twitter at [email protected]/MTwriterFreeman