Dungeness Crab Species Description: The Dungeness Crab, "Cancer Magister", ranges extensively, from Southern California through Alaska, with some occurrence in the Bering Straits and up into the Sea of Korea. The Dungeness can be harvested from shallow estuarine areas, all the way out to over 30 miles at sea, but most of the catch is done within 10-12 miles of shore. This is one of the largest and most abundant edible crabs of the Pacific. Average market size is about 1.7-2 pounds, but they can be found over 4 pounds. Dungeness Crabs have a diameter across the back of between 4-9 inches. Live, they are reddish-brown, often with a purplish wash across the back, and creamy underside. Cooked, they turn bright orange-red. They have two equal-sized front claws, with four legs on each side. It is illegal to harvest females, distinguished by a slightly smaller size and a much rounder abdomen than the males. Spawning coincides with molting, when the crab shells and meat become soft and watery, followed by the growth of a new exoskeleton.

Similar to the King Crab, the Dungeness has a delightful sweet, buttery taste, simply one of the best tasting crabs in the world. They are very hardy for live shipping, surviving 24 hours or more in a box with adequate cooling media and air. Crab Fresh pulls our crab daily from our live aquarium system for each day's orders. We cook to order so that our customers receive fresh cooked crab that was alive in our tanks until the moment it goes to our cook room, and orders are delivered on the very same day, or next day that the order is placed.

Pricing, Volume, and Availability: The areas that produce the most volume vary seasonally. Crab Fresh has extensive buying contacts throughout buying areas, throughout the entire year. From December-February, Washington, Oregon and Northern California coastal fishermen produce the most volume. From June-August, Southeast Alaska is the heavy producer, along with Prince Rupert Sound in British Columbia during July-September. Highest prices occur during periods when crabs are molting, thus catches per pot are lower and fewer areas are open. Generally this is in Spring (March-May) and Fall (Late August-October). We find that the best crabs for shipping are those from Southeast Alaska or the "inside" waters of Washington State, also known as "bay" crab. Harvested in sheltered waters of the Olympic Peninsula, the San Juan Islands, and Puget Sound, the Washington bay crabs tend to be bigger and hardier than ocean crabs. Availability of these crabs is best from May-October. Production in Dungeness Crab fisheries tends to run in 5 or 10 year cycles of ebbs and flows. During low production years, the live market drives pricing. Live crab dock prices can change daily, and may vary from $1.40 up to over $4 a pound, averaging a little over $2/lb.

Dungeness Crab Products & Ordering Info: We offer a full range of Dungeness Crab products, including live crab, as well as fresh cooked and frozen cooked whole crab, sections, and crabmeat. Generally, we ship in 40-50 pound boxes, with gel ice and styros for air ship, and usually wet ice and wetlock boxes for trucking fresh cooked crab. Minimum order size is usually 50#. Please contact us for more detailed arrangements for your shipping needs, and for daily prices!

Live: Available in Ocean Run (all sizes as they come off the boat) and graded, or 2/up (2 pounds or more). Always shipped via air for out-of-state orders.
Fresh or Frozen Whole Cooked: Available in Ocean Run or 2/up, individually banded and packed in 40-50# boxes as noted above.
Fresh or Frozen Cooked Sections: The crab is cleaned, back and gills removed, and split vertically to make a section with both legs and body meat. Available Ocean Run, packed as above for air or truck. Volume orders can be packed to customer specifications in totes or boxes for air or trucking containers.
Fresh or Frozen Crabmeat: Manually picked and packed in 1 or 5 pound vacuum cans (zero-vacuum for fresh meat). Can be cased at 30#/case and palletized for volume orders.
Crab Feeds - Come back soon to view our Crab Feed page for more info!