"We need a price before we go and set our gear and lose our leverage," a San Francisco crab captain told The San Francisco Standard last January, while boats stayed tied up at the Wharf and their pots sat on the docks.
That was eight weeks after the date printed on the calendar. In the Central Management Area, which covers San Francisco, the ordinary commercial Dungeness season runs from November 15 to June 30, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Last season, direct sales off the boats at Fisherman's Wharf started on Sunday, January 11, 2026. For anyone within walking distance of Jefferson Street, November 15 marks when the season could open. Three separate approvals decide when it does.
Three gates between November 15 and a crab in your cooler
Whales come first. Under CDFW's Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program, the state checks entanglement risk for humpback whales, blue whales and leatherback sea turtles before and during the season, and it can delay or restrict fishing zone by zone when the risk is high. Once the state clears a zone, boats still need safe seas to set and pull their gear. Then comes the dock, where captains hold off setting gear until they have a price from wholesale buyers.
All three came into play during the 2025-26 season:
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| October 24, 2025 | CDFW's risk assessment recorded 43 humpback whales and two leatherback turtles in Fishing Zone 3, and the director delayed the commercial season in Zones 1 through 6 |
| December 19, 2025 | CDFW recommended opening Zones 3 through 5 on January 5, 2026, with a 40% gear reduction, expecting the whales to migrate out |
| January 5, 2026 | The Central Management Area opened on paper, but unsafe weather kept boats in port |
| The following week | After the weather cleared, captains held off fishing while they negotiated prices with wholesale buyers |
| January 11, 2026 | Off-the-boat sales began at 6 a.m. at Fisherman's Wharf |
Farther north, the openings ran into a fourth problem. CDFW's January 8, 2026 announcement said domoic acid and crab-quality testing were holding those areas back separately. CDFW's management summary says domoic acid can delay the scheduled commercial opening in either management area.
Where the 2026-27 season stands this week
As of October 19, CDFW's Whale Safe Fisheries page listed both the commercial and recreational Dungeness fisheries as closed for 2026-27. The page had a heading for the new season but no risk assessment under it yet. Last year, the Director's risk assessment that delayed the season came out on October 24, about three weeks before the scheduled opener. That same page is the best place to check from now through mid-November. Each zone's status changes there before any boat shows up on Al Scoma Way.
Even an on-time opener doesn't mean crab at the dock the next morning. The price talks happen after the state says yes, and last January those talks alone added several days.
How buying off the boat works
Permitted crabbers have been allowed to sell directly to the public from their vessels in the inner and outer lagoons since 2021. The Port of San Francisco's Retail Fish Sales Program page lists the ground rules:
- Every sale happens from the vessel itself.
- Fish and crab are sold whole and uncooked, with fish gilled and gutted only, to meet Health Code rules.
- Sales depend on weather and catch, so check the fishers' updates on the Facebook group or the seafoodfromtheboat.sf Instagram account before heading down.
- Arrive early, because lines are common and boats sell out.
- Bring a cooler or bucket. Cash is preferred, though some fishers take electronic payment.
- There's no parking on Al Scoma Way. The 19 and 49 buses and the F streetcar stop nearby.
Individual fishers also post their hours and locations in real time on the FishLine mobile app.
The physical setup has improved too. In January 2025, the Port installed an ADA-accessible float at Wharf J9, north of Jefferson Street along Al Scoma Way. Before that, fishers at J9 sold from stern-tie berths that customers reached by ladder. Opening day draws big crowds. The Standard reported that the January 2025 opener drew hundreds of people, some of whom waited up to four hours. For the January 2026 opener, three boats were expected at the Pier 47 sales dock, charging $11 a pound, or roughly $20 to $25 a crab. Those prices are from last January. This season's price will depend on the same dockside negotiation that delayed the start.
The Saturday market that fills the gaps
Waiting on crab doesn't have to mean waiting on local fish. The pop-up Fish Market at the Wharf opened on Saturday, January 10, 2026, at 101 Al Scoma Way, next to Wharf J9. It runs 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the local fishing community operates it with support from the Fisherman's Wharf Community Benefit District and the Port. The Port's announcement listed rotating fresh and flash-frozen fish such as black cod, rockfish and halibut, plus smoked fish and live crab from the boats, cooked on site.
The market started selling salmon in May, the first local salmon season since 2023. The Port's May 6 advisory committee minutes described the market running every Saturday through September, then moving to the new Smokehouse overlook once that opened. That published schedule ended in September, so check the Community Benefit District's channels before planning a November Saturday around it.
What the Port built while the fleet was out
The waterfront around the boats has changed more in 2026 than in years. The Port is reshaping Taylor Street, Jefferson Street and the Inner Lagoon under a plan called Fisherman's Wharf Forward, and the near-term work was marked complete this summer.
The first piece to open was a new Inner Lagoon overlook along Al Scoma Way, built where the old Smokehouse stood. The Port says it was completed in May 2026 and hosts the weekly fish market. Construction ran into a buried fuel tank, which the Port had to test around and close off completely with concrete before finishing the work.
Alioto's Plaza opened on September 2 on Taylor Street, on the site of the restaurant that operated there for nearly a century. The Port's release lists picnic tables, seating facing the bay, a seating sculpture, signs on the Wharf's fishing history, string lighting, landscaping and pop-up space for retail and drinks. The plaza opens up views of the inner harbor, which is where the crab boats tie up.
Woods Beer & Wine Co. is moving into the lower level of Fisherman's Grotto, a space Port staff call the Grotto café space, with a patio facing the plaza. At the September advisory committee meeting, Port staff said Woods would start with outdoor pop-ups while the interior was finished, and hoped to open fully that month. The Port's plaza release gave mid-September for outdoor service and later in the month for the full taproom. The same September meeting listed Everett and Jones among the Wharf's new tenants.
The next visible change arrives this winter. New lighting in the Inner Lagoon, meant to highlight the fishing fleet and its historic vessels, is planned for winter 2026-27. Behind the scenes, the Port is working with fishers on new berthing piles and repaired electrical systems for the fleet. The larger project comes later. Long-term resilience work on Taylor Street and the Inner Lagoon, including strengthening or replacing the seawall and wharves, is scheduled through fall 2030, with a conceptual plan due in early 2027. The Port presented early design concepts at a September 9 community meeting at the USS Pampanito Museum space. It still takes comments at [email protected].
When the boats do start selling, the overlook on Al Scoma Way and the bay-facing seats at Alioto's Plaza will both look out over the fleet, a few steps from the J9 float.
If you live near the waterfront and are thinking about how changes like these affect the blocks around your home, On The Right Paige is happy to talk it through over a walk down Al Scoma Way. Let's Connect.
