Saving Seafood

OREGON: Oregon wildlife officials deny petition aimed at reducing whale entanglements

February 25, 2026 — Commissioners for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife voted no on a petition that would’ve modified the rules for crab fisheries in an effort to prevent whale entanglements on Friday.

After hearing testimony from more than 70 people who showed up to their regular meeting in Springfield on Feb. 20, the commissioners voted 6-1 to a proposal which would have initiated a public rulemaking process.

The petition was filed by environment groups Oceana, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the American Cetacean Society in an effort to reduce the number of whales caught in fishing gear.

“Whale entanglements in the Oregon Dungeness crab fishery are a serious and increasing problem, especially for endangered humpback whales,” said Ben Enticknap, fisheries campaign director for Oceana. And this problem isn’t going away on its own.”

Read the full article at KOIN

Petition urges more protections for whales in Dungeness crab fisheries

December 18, 2025 — Four conservation groups have petitioned the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to strengthen risk reduction measures to prevent whale entanglement during the state’s Dungeness crab fishery.

The petition filed on Dec. 11 in Salem, Oregon, also calls for creating a pathway for authorization of safer pop-up fishing gear and establishing a process for timely public reporting of marine mammal or sea turtle entanglements in Oregon Commercial Dungeness crab fishing gear.

Four humpback whales were confirmed to have been entangled in 2025 in Oregon commercial Dungeness crab fishing gear, including one that beached and had to be euthanized.

Petition signers included the Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the American Cetacean Society. 

“If state officials don’t move to adopt whale-safe fishing gear, like pop-up buoys for Dungeness crab pots, endangered whales will continue to suffer and die preventable deaths,” said Ben Grundy, an oceans campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Petition urges more protections for whales in Dungeness crab fisheries

December 17, 2025 — Four conservation groups have petitioned the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to strengthen risk reduction measures to prevent whale entanglement during the state’s Dungeness crab fishery.

The petition filed on Dec. 11 in Salem, Oregon, also calls for creating a pathway for authorization of safer pop-up fishing gear and establishing a process for timely public reporting of marine mammal or sea turtle entanglements in Oregon Commercial Dungeness crab fishing gear.

Four humpback whales were confirmed to have been entangled in 2025 in Oregon commercial Dungeness crab fishing gear, including one that beached and had to be euthanized.

Petition signers included the Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the American Cetacean Society. 

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Pilot Whale Dies in Thailand After Being Found With 17 Pounds of Plastic Bags in Its Stomach

June 4, 2018 — A male pilot whale struggled for five days to stay alive in Thailand near the Malaysian border after rescuers found it with 17 pounds of plastic bags in its stomach, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, but it ultimately succumbed to its illnesses.

The whale died on Friday, the Post wrote, and an autopsy discovered what Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources said were 80 plastic bags lodged in its stomach.

It’s far from the first time whales have turned up sick or dead from ingesting trash. Per the Post, experts say that the whale likely believed the bags were food:

Thai officials said they believe the whale mistook the floating plastic for food. Pilot whales primarily eat squid but are also known to hunt octopus, cuttlefish and small fish when squid prove elusive, the American Cetacean Society said.

Kasetsart University marine biologist and lecturer Thon Thamrongnawasawat told Agence France-Presse that the massive glob of plastic in the whale’s stomach probably led to it starving to death:

Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a marine biologist and lecturer at Kasetsart University, said the bags had made it impossible for the whale to eat any nutritional food.

“If you have 80 plastic bags in your stomach, you die,” he said.

Read the full story at Gizmodo