Water Grill | Stories | About Dungeness Crab
The waiting game hurts. But when Dungeness crab season opens each year, it’s worth it. Dungeness crab isn’t just a staple on our seafood plates, though. Here at Water Grill, they’re practically a fixture -- from our saltwater tanks to raw bar and seasonal preparations.
An Introduction to the Dungeness Crab
WHAT IS A DUNGENESS CRAB?
As renowned as they are for their flavor, few people know just how important Dungeness crab is to the West Coast. Of crabs in the Cancer genus, Dungeness (Metacarcinus magister) is the largest edible species (and one of the tastiest!)Dungeness crab has a mildly sweet flavor with a firm but delicate texture. Even though Dungeness is the most abundant crab in California, its availability is limited and regulated. And for good reason.
HOW IT STARTED
The first commercial harvest of Dungeness crab occurred in 1848 off the coasts of San Francisco and Washington. Its presence and cultural significance was felt long before that. The Dungeness fishery involves some of the great West Coast placenames in seafood. Crabs are caught in places like Bodega Bay, Port Townsend, Coos Bay, Astoria, Newport and Willapa Bay – just to name a few.
The Dungeness crab's relationship with communities of the West Coast has been traced back to coastal Indigenous Peoples of the Pacific Northwest. The Nuu-chah-nulth specifically would catch it and use it as an economic resource. It wasn’t until the late 1700s before European settlers first made it to the entrance of the Puget Sound, where the Spaniard Manuel Quimper found the spit, which became nicknamed the “Shipwreck Spit”. Ignoring the Spanish “discovery” of the spit, on April 30,1782, British explorer George Vancouver was reminded of a similar sandy projection on the Southeastern English shoreline and named this Puget Sound sandbar “New Dungeness”.
HOW DUNGENESS CRAB GOT ITS NAME
The Dungeness Spit, a jetting sandbar on the inlet to the Puget Sound that creates a shallow bay, is where these crustaceans take their name. Dungeness crab has historically been abundant in this preferred habitat: sandy- or soft-bottom areas around tidepools as deep as 300 feet. Some have been found as deep as 750 feet.
While they get their name from this area in the Pacific Northwest, Dungeness crab can be found all the way north near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands continuing down to Santa Barbara, Calif., with occasional sightings as far south as Magdalena Bay in Mexico. Although they’re caught both recreationally and commercially in Northern and Southern California, their population greatly decreases when you go south of Monterey Bay, Calif.
CRABBING SEASON
Dungeness crabbing season occurs along the West Coast, typically from late fall to the following summer. Each state has its own fisheries management, and the opening of the season often fluctuates due to conditions in their waters, including migratory whale patterns. When the season opens up, it will often be sequenced for recreational and commercial fishing.
HOW IT WAS CAUGHT THEN
The Coast Salish peoples, a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous People of the Pacific Northwest, would typically catch their Dungeness by hand (well, spear actually). Men would patrol shallow waters in canoes and use spears to pierce their carapaces and bring them up from the sand.
HOW DUNGENESS CRAB IS CAUGHT NOW
While using diving gear is more common when collecting these crabs by hand today, most fisheries will use crab pots or traps – which is the preferred method of catching before it's delivered to our restaurants via our exclusive seafood distribution company. Up until the1940s, a typical harvest was done using crab rings or hoop nets. Only mature male crabs may be harvested to allow the females to continue to reproduce. It takes about four years to reach the market size of 6.25 in. across its carapace(or shoulder-to-shoulder so to speak.) At Water Grill, the minimum size offered is 1.75 lbs.
Careful management
Beyond these specifications of careful harvesting, the Dungeness crab populations are hardly stable and need careful management by state agencies to determine when it is safe for the populations to be harvested.
Here’s the commercial Dungeness crab fishing season by state:
Typically December to May
Typically mid- to end-November through end-June/mid-July, though the start of the season has been delayed to December/January in recent years
Typically December to August
Typically December through September
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE: HOW TO TELL A DUNGENESS
There are a few markers that separate a Dungeness crab from its scuttling siblings. You’ll notice that the top of a Dungeness shell has a light reddish-brown color with hints of purple towards the back. Compared to other crabs, the underside of a Dungeness will be a lighter orangish-white color.
You can also spot a Dungeness by its claws and pincers. Where, typically, you’ll find that most crabs have black-tipped pincers, the Dungeness pincer tips are white and saw-toothed, like its carapace (the back/body of the crab).
WANT TO TRY IT YOURSELF?
All this talk about this delicious crab pique your appetite? Come into Water Grill to experience what it’s like to eat this West Coast shellfish in an elevated way. Have it chilled or steamed – always served with crab butter, of course – or try it in a Cioppino. This fisherman-inspired stew features a range of seafood, including shrimp, clams, mussels and Dungeness in a way that heightens this homemade-style dish. Check out our daily menus and reserve a table now.
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From Head to Fin, Here's Looking At You, Halibut.
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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And, if you’re looking at Pacific Halibut from its good side, it’s a twofer: you’ve got two big eyes staring right back at you.
We think you’re beautiful, Pacific Halibut, and you give us a lot to work with – from head to fin.
Pacific Halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) is the world’s largest species of flatfish. One can weigh as much as 500 lbs. and grow up to 8 ft. long. Those big ones are called “barn doors”. The little ones are called “chickens.”
They’re found in the coastal waters from Northern California to Nome, Alaska. Most are caught in the central Gulf of Alaska. As a flatfish, they hang out on the sandy ocean floor, which gets quite dark. It’s an environment that breeds adaptation.
Tell Me About Those Eyes
Pacific Halibut are born swimming like the other kids in school. They look like them too, with an eye on each side of their heads. As they get older, though, their bodies begin to change. One eye migrates to the right side. By the time a halibut is six months old, it’s swimming on its side with both eyes on the top of its body. This puts them in the family of right-eyed flounders. Nearly every halibut falls into this camp. In fact, only one in 20,000 halibut is left-eyed.
The underside of the body is off-white and faces the ocean floor. The other side is a dark olive color, which helps them blend in with the ocean floor to anyone (or anything) looking down from above. It’s on that top side of the body where both eyes reside, keeping an eye out for potential threats while enjoying a steady diet of small fish, crabs, clams, squid and other bottom-dwelling invertebrates.
Typically, Halibut-catching season runs from mid-March through early November, closing right before the spawning season begins. The females typically spawn at depths of 300 to 1,500 ft. When we get a hold of Pacific Halibut, it’s wild-caught by longlines or hook and line.
Our Process
We handpick, cut and exclusively supply the highest quality seafood to our restaurants. We leverage more than 75 years of strong relationships to source from local fishermen and lobstermen. For Pacific Halibut, this means partnering with companies such as E&E Foods. They’re experts in Alaska and the North Pacific and have been serving the industry since 1932.
Flavor
Pacific Halibut is a people and palate pleaser, with a flavor that’s delightfully mild and slightly sweet. It’s a leaner fish, with large white flakes and a firm but tender texture.
We offer several preparations of Pacific Halibut throughout the season at Water Grill, utilizing the whole fish. This includes:
•Pan Seared Halibut entrée with spring peas, fingerlings, braised leeks and lemon velouté
•Pan Roasted Halibut Cheeks appetizer with braised fennel and brown butter lemon sauce
•Miso Marinated Halibut Collar with grilled Okinawan potatoes, pickled bean sprouts and yuzu aioli
•Roasted Halibut Tail tacos with roasted tomato salsa, pickled mango and soft corn tortillas
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Fisheries Management
The Pacific Halibut Fishery is managed by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), NOAA Fisheries and the Pacific Fishery Management Council. These agencies work together to set annual quotas and keep the population at a level where it can continue to reproduce and sustain itself. The teamwork extends across the United States and Canada – including the states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and the province of British Columbia.
Collectively, the Pacific Halibut population has been increasing since 2013 through the active and collaborative fisheries management which has been decreasing catch weight limits year over year.
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