Water Grill | Stories | About Dungeness Crab

January 9, 2025

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.

 

Dungeness Washington crab fishery viewed by Satellite
Dungeness, WA viewed by satellite

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: 

 

Alaska:

Typically December to May

California:

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

Oregon:

Typically December to August

Washington:

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?

Steamed Dungeness Crab at Water Grill

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.

Dungeness Crab from Raw Bar Water Grill Seafood
Dungeness Crab from the Raw Bar

Wild Santa Barbara Spot Prawn Season

March 1, 2024

Shrimp are found all over the world. From saltwater to freshwater, wild, farmed and frozen. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it. The list goes on.

Prawns are generally found in freshwater environments.

Spot prawns; however, are not prawns. The Spot Prawn (Pandalus platyceros) is found exclusively in the Pacific Ocean, from the Gulf of Alaska down to Northern Baja California. Named after the paired spots located just behind the head, our California Spot Prawns hail from the Southern California Bight (a 430-mile stretch of curved coast from Point Conception, Calif. to Punta Colonet, Baja California Sur, Mexico), with main ports of entry at Santa Barbara, San Pedro and San Diego.

These shrimps are big, too. The largest in the Pacific, in fact. They can grow upwards of 12 inches (30.5 cm) but most are around 4 to 10 inches (12-27 cm) in length.

It’s in California where spot prawns were initially discovered in the 1930s, hanging out in octopus traps off the coast of Monterey. Today, they’re caught in pot traps to ensure careful handling and effective fisheries management (shoutout to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife).

Spot prawns dwell deep, inhabiting depths of 600 feet to 1,500 feet on soft and rocky bottoms.

Every February, we gear up to receive these live, special treasures from local fishermen in Santa Barbara.
Spot Prawns in Water Grill Live Saltwater Tank

LIFE CYCLE

The average life span for a spot prawn is around six years. It’s around year four or five when something magical happens: spot prawns start transitioning from male to female. Spot prawns start life as males, then they join the other team after their first spawn as males. They’re a true example of a hermaphrodite in the natural world, a protrandric hermaphrodite, if you want to get the scientific term spot-on.

Spot prawns spawn once a year, with each individual spot prawn mating once as a male and once or twice as a female. This typically occurs from October through January. That’s the reason spot prawn season is closed during that time.

UNBEATABLE FLAVOR

Spot prawns are a rarity and a delicacy. Careful handling is critical, as they must be enjoyed immediately after they decease. (There’s an enzyme in them that instantly begins decomposing the muscular structure, leading to a “mushy” texture when cooked if not handled properly.)

As finding and preparing spot prawns can be a little, well, spotty, it goes without saying that the best way to enjoy them is fresh from the water. At Water Grill, we fill our saltwater tanks with live spot prawns and prepare them to order, where you can get them as a tempura-fried Nigiri or as a charcoal-grilled entrée.

Spot prawns are delicate and delicious. We may refer to them as delicate, but the firm texture makes them sweet and gives a “pop” of flavor every time you take a bite.

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