January 29, 2026 — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is implementing temporary rule changes for Dungeness crab fishers in the 2025-26 season to restrict gear and areas where fishing can occur.
Beginning April 1, crab fishers must comply with late-season whale entanglement risk reduction measures, including a 20% reduction in pot limits, a 40-fathom depth restriction and the mandatory use of secondary buoy tags.
The changes follow a petition conservation groups filed Dec. 11 asking the state to adopt measures to reduce whale and sea turtle entanglements in Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery after a record number of humpback whales were caught in Oregon Dungeness crab fishing gear in 2024 and 2025.