October 1, 2020 — New regulations for commercial Dungeness crab fishermen in Oregon aim to get boats on the water earlier in the season and reduce the amount of gear to avoid tangling with endangered whales.
The regulations, adopted in September, involve a number of key changes to how the fishery is managed, including a 20% reduction in the number of pots a permit holder is allowed to fish with later in the season.
The state is also tightening regulations around when fishermen can get replacement tags for gear reported as lost and lowering requirements for how full of meat crabs must be along the southern coast in order for the season to open.
The late-season gear reduction will be in place for the next three seasons. Fishery managers will evaluate how effective this measure is at reducing the risk of whale entanglement while still enabling an economically viable fishery.