August 21, 2026 — Oregon commercial Dungeness crab fishermen will face new electronic monitoring requirements beginning Feb. 1 as state officials work to reduce the risk of whale entanglements.
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission approved rules Friday requiring commercial crab vessels to use electronic monitoring systems that track vessel locations and record when fishermen pull crab pots. Other rules regarding permits for experimental fishing gear were also approved and took effect immediately.
Justin Ainsworth, Marine Resources Program Manager with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the system will have two main components: a GPS device and a hydraulic pressure sensor.
The GPS device will track a vessel’s location, while the hydraulic pressure sensor will detect when a vessel is using its hydraulic system to pull up a crab pot.