The start of the commercial crab season has been delayed at least until Dec. 15, but a Brookings fishing official says that’s not necessarily bad.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Thursday that crab season from Point Arena, Calif., to the Canadian border will be postponed for at least two weeks.

The decision, in cooperation with the California Department of Fish and Game and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, was made because crab tested recently did not have enough meat, said Kelly Corbett of ODFW.

More testing will be done late this month or in early December to see if the quality of crab has improved, she said.

Bernie Lindley, president of the Brookings Fishermen’s Marketing Association, took a philosophical stance.

“Our job is to fish and when you don’t get to, it’s a drag,” he said. “But that’s part of the business. We had a late molt and we don’t want to harvest them before they’re ready. A lot of guys are anxious to get started but if the crabs aren’t ready we have to wait.”

Lindley said he is happy  that the ODFW “is looking out for the best interests of the resource, consumers and fishermen. We’re glad the state is working cooperatively with us.”

The delay will ensure an organized, orderly start to the season, he added.

Price negotiations between fishermen and processors also will be delayed, Lindley said. Talks probably will start in the first weeks of December.

“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” he said.

Lindley said a delay of the season isn’t extremely unusual, but usually at least part of the West Coast is open to crabbing on time.

“A widespread closure is unusual,” Lindley said.

He predicted that, based on past experience, most fishermen will harvest half of their season take in the first two to three weeks. Lindley said he got half of his total in the first week last year.

Corbett said the last coast-wide delay in crab season occurred in 2005. The start was pushed back to Dec. 31 that year, she said.

Corbett noted that the 2010 season opened Dec. 10, but that was due to price negotiations between fishermen and processors rather than a state closure.