Saving Seafood

Washington crab fishermen challenge GPS vessel tracking in court

November 6, 2026 — Three Washington Dungeness crab fishermen are asking a state court to overturn a vessel monitoring program they say violates their constitutional rights by tracking their boats even when they are not fishing.

The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), representing crab boat captains Sarah Franey, Brent Young, and Mark Young, filed a motion seeking to invalidate the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) Electronic Monitoring Program. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 15.

According to a Nov. 3 NCLA news release, the program requires GPS tracking of Dungeness crab vessels throughout the nine-month fishing season whenever their crab pots remain in the water, regardless of whether the vessels are being used for commercial fishing or personal activities.

The fishermen argue that the requirement allows the state to monitor their movements during recreational fishing trips, transportation, and sightseeing. They also contend that WDFW can share vessel location data with law enforcement and other agencies without obtaining a warrant.

At the center of the lawsuit, Franey et al. v. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, is whether the monitoring requirements violate constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

CALIFORNIA: Northern California Dungeness crab season delayed until 2027

November 4, 2026 — California’s commercial Dungeness crab season will remain closed in the northern part of the state until at least Jan. 1, 2027, as fishery managers respond to humpback whale entanglements.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced the delay Oct. 30, citing the number of humpback whales entangled in fishing gear this year. The department said postponing the commercial opener will give whales more time to migrate out of California waters before crab gear is deployed.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Crabbers again ask Washington Superior Court to shut down 24/7 monitoring of vessels

November 4, 2026 — Representing Dungeness crab fishers, the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) has asked the Superior Court of the State of Washington to immediately rule against the state government and shut down its 24/7 electronic monitoring program.

“There is no ‘fishing’ exception to illegal 24-hour surveillance regimes under the state and federal constitutions, and we hope that regime ends soon,” NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione said in a release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

CALIFORNIA: No crab for the holidays as 2026 Dungeness season delayed to protect whales

November 2, 2026 — For the seventh consecutive year, California officials are delaying the Bay Area’s commercial Dungeness crab season because of the high number of migrating humpback whales already getting ensnared by old crab-pot fishing lines and other gear.

And again this year, conservation groups are expressing frustration with what they say is a too-slow transition to safer fishing methods that would allow the industry to get back on the water earlier.

The 2026-27 Dungeness season normally would start Nov. 15 – meaning Californians traditionally enjoyed crab on Thanksgiving and for the winter holidays.

Instead, commercial crabbing from the Oregon border south to Point Conception in Santa Barbara County has been postponed until at least Jan. 1, 2027, “due to the number of humpback whale entanglements during the 2026 calendar year,” state officials said.

“Unfortunately,” said senior scientist Geoff Shester, Oceana’s director of fishery innovation, “California is still the nation’s leader – or loser? – with the most entanglements reported of any U.S. state,” according to a recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report.

Read the full article at The Fresno Bee

CALIFORNIA: Bay Area conservationists team up to address crab-fishing entanglements

October 29,2026 — Bay Area conservationists are teaming up with commercial fishers to reduce whale-entanglement risks while supporting the local Dungeness crab industry.

The Marine Mammal Center and The Nature Conservancy this month formed a partnership with the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations to form the Dungeness Crab and Whale Conservation Collaborative.

The effort will develop a modern whale-monitoring system that allows California wildlife officials to make more informed decisions about when to open and close parts of the state’s coastline to commercial fishing.

Read the full article at the San Francisco Examiner

CALIFORNIA: California commercial fishers, conservationists join forces to reduce whale entanglements

October 27, 2026 — Conservation groups have joined forces with California’s commercial fishers in a new partnership aimed at protecting whales while keeping the state’s Dungeness crab fishery open.

“California’s commercial fishermen have a long history of finding solutions to challenges on the water,” Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) Executive Director Lisa Damrosch said in a release. “This partnership brings that experience together with some of the best minds in science and conservation, with fishermen at the table from the very beginning. Together, we have an opportunity to find a better balance between protecting whales and sustaining a healthy, viable Dungeness crab fishery.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

CALIFORNIA: New partnership aims to reduce whale entanglements in California Dungeness crab fishery

October 26, 2026 — A new partnership of marine scientists, commercial fishermen, and conservationists aims to reduce whale entanglements in California’s Dungeness crab fishery while supporting the state’s fishing industry, a press release issued Thursday noted.

The Dungeness Crab and Whale Conservation Collaborative, announced by The Marine Mammal Center, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and The Nature Conservancy, is backed by a three-year grant from the Clean Break Fund.

The initiative will combine data from vessel surveys, drones, shore-based observations, underwater acoustic gliders, and satellite-based whale detections to improve understanding of whale movements and behavior.

Read the full article at NBC Bay Area

Judge grants preliminary approval for a USD 2.25 million settlement over Dungeness crab price-fixing

August 26, 2026 — A U.S. federal court judge has granted preliminary approval on a settlement for a price-fixing lawsuit leveled against buyers of Dungeness crab in California, Washington, and Oregon.

Northern District of California Judge Alex G. Tse approved three settlements in the lawsuit, which was brought by Brand Little and Robin Burns. Tse approved a collective payment of USD 2.25 million (EUR 1.93 million) from three of the smaller crab buyers, who shared 5.27 percent of the Dungeness crab market during the period: Pacific Dream Seafood, Caito Seafood, and Fisherman’s Choice.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

OREGON: Oregon crabbers face new requirements

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.

Read the full article at KVAL

OREGON: Oregon to start testing ropeless crabbing gear next spring to stop whale entanglements

August 19, 2026 — Oregon fishermen will begin testing ropeless crabbing technology next spring in an effort to save whales from often-fatal entanglements.

The state since 2021 has taken steps to reduce whale entanglements, including requiring additional late season crabbing tags and limiting how many crabbing pots fishermen can use and how deep they can place them, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Marine Resources Program Manager Justin Ainsworth told the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission in a meeting Friday.

But with whale entanglements increasing, commissioners are turning to two new tools to reduce whale deaths. Rules the commission adopted Friday will require fishermen to share their vessel location with state fishery managers and allow them to test ropeless crabbing gear already allowed in California.

Traditional commercial crabbing gear requires hundreds of traps to sit on the ocean floor, each attached to a vertical line connected to a buoy on the surface. Whales can easily get entangled and injured, often fatally, in those lines, as was the case with a humpback whale freed about 20 miles off the Oregon Coast in late July that wasn’t expected to survive because the entanglement left it unable to feed.

The pop-up gear the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife can begin authorizing as soon as spring 2027, however, stores the rope and buoy with the trap on the seafloor. Fishermen can set a timer or trigger a release mechanism that allows the line to uncoil and buoy to surface to retrieve the catch, ensuring whales and other creatures have a clear path most of the time.

Pop-up gear is currently unlawful because all pot and trap gear must be marked at the surface with a buoy. The proposed rule would allow the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue some experimental fishing gear permits as soon as spring 2027, and the commission could consider wider authorization if the tests prove effective.

Read the full article at the Astorian