A Dungeness crab awaits sorting in a crabpot brought up near Ilwaco.

LONG BEACH — Tests conducted in late October found Dungeness crab in Washington state’s crucial south coastal areas already are above minimum required meat-recovery percentages. They also are well on their way to having hard enough shells for the traditional Dec. 1 commercial season opener.

Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife completed optional October pre-season tests in the Long Beach Test Area on Oct. 22, while all the stations in the Westport Test Area were completed late on Oct. 26.

Long Beach area crab had meat recovery of 23.8 percent and Westport was at 24 percent. In Long Beach waters, 63.9 percent had reached marketable shell hardness, while around Westport the percentage was 61. Off the Long Beach Peninsula, 38.9 percent of crab were in the unmarketable Grade II classification, meaning there was some flex in both body and legs. In Westport waters, 36.1 percent were Grade II. No south Washington crab were in the poorest category of Grade III. Shell hardness was similar to last year at the same time.

This year’s crab are not quite at meaty as they were last year at about the same time, when south coast tests neared 27 percent. But this year’s meat levels are markedly better than in several other recent years, when crab were slow to achieve a legal-minimum 23 percent.

Standard WDFW coastal Dungeness crab testing fishing protocol was followed to achieve the October results. Crabs were collected from three stations at each area; strings of pots were set at 15, 30, and 45 fathoms at each station. All legal sized male crab caught were included in the meat recovery sample. While aboard the charter vessels, WDFW staff collected shell condition data from the same crab collected from all depths and stations.

Only WDFW exercised the option per the Tri-State Agreement with Oregon and California to conduct an October test.

The first required round of testing per the Tri-State Agreement will be completed by mid-November. WDFW expects to include northern Washington test stations at that time. Tests will also be conducted during the same period in Oregon and California.

Boat owners and crews often cash some of their biggest paychecks of the season in December, just in the nick of time for Christmas. Dungeness crab provide the most income of any Washington state fishery — for example, $40 million ex-vessel in the 2012-13 season, about twice as much as the second-place species, albacore tuna. Crab also are Oregon’s most valuable catch, generating hundreds of seasonal jobs and about $50 million ex-vessel. Here at the mouth of the Columbia, crab vessels typically harvest in the waters of both states.

At this time, marine toxin levels from crab just north of the Columbia River and from off Grayland on the Pacific-Grays Harbor county line are within safe limits for harvests to commence.