MENDOCINO CO., 12/16/26 — The state issued a warning to residents about the dangers of eating the internal organs of Dungeness crab caught by hobby fishing along portions of the northern coast, the California Department of Public Health said.
The viscera of these crabs contains high levels of domoic acid, also known as amnesic shellfish poisoning, according to the CDPH.
The warning affects state waters from the California/Oregan border to Reading Rock State Marin Reserve in Humboldt County and from the Ten Mile State Marine Reserve in Mendocino County to the Sonoma/Mendocino county line.
Domoic acid is a naturally occurring biotoxin. Cooking the crab does not decrease or destroy the toxin.
Symptoms of domoic acid poisoning can occur within 30 minutes to 24 hours after eating toxic seafood. In mild cases, symptoms may include vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headache, and dizziness. These symptoms disappear within several days. In severe cases, the consumer may experience trouble breathing, confusion, cardiovascular instability, seizures, excessive bronchial secretions, permanent loss of short-term memory, coma, or death, according to the CDPH.
This is an update from CDPH’s Whole Dungeness Crab Advisory from Oct. 24, 2025, where the public was warned to not consume any sport-harvested whole Dungeness crab (meat or viscera) from these areas.
It is always best to remove the viscera and rinse out the body cavity prior to cooking (i.e., boiling, steaming, or frying) the crab, the CDPH said. If whole crab are cooked in liquid, domoic acid may leach into the broth. The cooking water or broth should be discarded and not used to prepare dishes such as sauces, broth, soups, or stews (cioppino or gumbo), stocks, roux, dressings, or dips.
CDPH continues to coordinate its efforts with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the fishing community to collect and test crab samples from the impacted areas until domoic acid levels have dissipated.
Test results are updated as laboratory results become available and can be viewed on the CDPH Domoic Acid webpage. Please visit CDPH’s Domoic Acid FAQ for more information. To receive updated information about shellfish poisoning and quarantines, call CDPH’s toll-free “Shellfish Information Line” at (800) 553-4133.