Last year’s Dungeness crab season declared a federal disaster

The 2015-16 California Dungeness and rock crab fishery, which was postponed more than four months, has been officially declared a disaster by the federal government.

[...] for Bay Area commercial crab fishermen who weathered through the unprecedented events, the ruling was a long time coming.

Outgoing U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker made the declaration official Wednesday, in the final days of the Obama administration.

In a statement, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials said the fisheries “experienced sudden and unexpected large decreases in fish stock biomass or loss of access due to unusual ocean and climate conditions.”

The 2016 California’s Yurok Tribe Klamath River Chinook salmon fishery was also included in the disaster declaration, along with several salmon and crab fisheries in Washington.

The path from declaration to actual funding allocation is likely to be a lengthy process, said David Bitts, president of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations.