Photo: (c) Josh Houston, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


The opening of this legislative session coincides with the should-be-opening of crab season on the North Coast. Unfortunately, crabbers and buyers haven’t come to terms on a price yet, so local crabbers have not yet rushed out to set their pots.

However! Down in Sacramento, outgoing Assm. Jim Wood, who has repped the North Coast since 2014, just introduced a new bill that would enshrine the tasty fellow pictured above — Metacarcinus magister, the Dungeness crab — as the state’s official crustacean.

The crab, notes Assembly Bill 1797, is “an essential part of California’s ecosystem and economy.” If the bill passes and is signed by the governor, Mr. Dungeness will forever take his place alongside California’s official state marine mammal (the gray whale), its official state insect (the California dogface butterfly), its official state grass (purple needlegrass), its freshwater fish (the golden trout), its official reptile (desert tortoise), its official lichen (lace lichen) and the newest member of the gang, its official state mushroom (California golden chanterelle) — among many others.

Will the bill pass? It’s hard to imagine much opposition. Which assemblymember is going to stand up and denounce the Dungeness in favor of, say, the Oregon pillbug? It seems hard to imagine.

The bill is coauthored by our Sen. Mike McGuire, as well Assmbs. Dawn Addis and Gail Pellerin.

Wood is soliciting your crab jokes on Twitter: