Strike by West Coast crab fishermen ends after 11 days

EUREKA, Calif. (AP) – An 11-day strike by thousands of West Coast crab fishermen has ended after a successful negotiation of prices with seafood processors.

The agreement reached late Friday will restart the sputtering season for much-sought-after Dungeness crabs in Northern California, Oregon and Washington.

The Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association told KRCR-TV in Eureka, California that the crabbers had settled on a price of $2.875 per pound of crabs with major buyer Pacific Choice Seafood.

The processors had initially agreed to $3 a pound in early December, then backed off to $2.75, which led to the strike. The agreed-upon price is exactly halfway between those figures.

The association says the deal was reached in Oregon, which sets the price for the entire coast.