On Friday, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) officials declared that the Dungeness crabs caught off the coast of California south of the Mendocino-Sonoma County line are safe for eating.

The tests conducted on the crabs in the area, recently, showed that domoic acid levels in them don’t pose a risk to human health anymore. The results of the tests encouraged state officials to raise a closure of the recreational Dungeness crab fishery.

According to the CDFW, besides this, a closure of the commercial Dungeness crab fishery in the region will also be lifted on March 26.

In the north of the Mendocino-Sonoma County line, the closure for the Dungeness crab commercial and recreational fisheries is still effective.

CDFW officials said that the commercial and recreational rock crab fisheries are still closed in north of San Simeon, and also in state waters across Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and San Miguel islands.

Earlier, the commercial crab season was planned to kick off on November 17, but stayed shut after public health officials detected high levels of domoic acid in the crabs. Domoic acid is a neurotoxin that can harm humans if consumed. Domoic acid is an outcome of an algal bloom. State authorities have been urged by local businesses to deal with issue of algal bloom.

The State Department of Fish and Wildlife decided to permit recreational crab fishing south of Point Reyes in February, but the closure of the commercial season remained in effect. As per the state officials, the industry has faced an estimated $48 million in losses due to the shutdown as of past month.

In a statement, the CDFW’s director Charlton Bonham said, “This has been a very difficult season for hardworking Californians who have suffered significant financial hardship due to this natural disaster”.