Saving Seafood

Researchers are looking into risk factors for whales who get caught up in fishing gear

March 22, 2023 — Researchers with Oregon State University are trying to better protect whales from getting entangled in fishing gear. They have discovered some areas of the ocean are more at risk for whales to get caught up in that gear, and the research has been forcing some changes for some fisherman.

The research is focused on fishing for Dungeness Crab. It was three years ago when the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife made changes to how many pots fisherman could have out, it was always a way to keep whales from getting caught in their lines.

Read the full article at KGW

California crab fisherman sues Pacific Seafood over alleged crab price-fixing

March 21, 2023 — A crab fisherman in the U.S. state of California has sued Pacific Seafood alleging it has “artificially suppressed” the price paid to fishermen for Dungeness crab.

The fisherman, Brad Little, filed the suit in a federal court in San Francisco, California, alleging he and 1,400 other commercial crab fishermen in California, Oregon, and Washington were paid lower prices for crab due to a price-fixing scheme perpetrated by Pacific Seafood. The complaint alleges Pacific Seafood fixed the price of crab through a “multipronged strategy of monopsonization, coercion, dumping, and secret deals.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Huge price drop for Dungeness crab is a tough deal for Washington state crabbers

February 21, 2o23 — When you hear about a “market correction,” here it is in a dramatic display: a plunge of two-thirds or more in the price of Washington Dungeness crab.

There are plenty of reasons why.

One is that you, the consumer, are willing to pay only so much for what one industry insider says “is probably looked at like a luxury item.” Well, time to party on, consumers.

“They’re really loving it. They’re super happy that they can get an awesome product,” says Michael Fodness, meat and seafood director for the six-store, locally owned Town & Country Markets.

Those stores are charging $5.99 to $7.98 per pound for Dungeness, but the higher price is for “premium 2-ups,” meaning each crab weighs at least 2 pounds, with a higher meat-to-shell ratio.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

OREGON: Dungeness crab season opens this week on last sections of Oregon’s coastline — with possible caveat

February 2, 2023 — The final two stretches of Oregon’s coast will open for commercial Dungeness crab fishing this week. But there may be some restrictions.

The coastline to the north from Cape Falcon to the Washington border opens for commercial crabbing Wednesday, Feb. 1. The south coast from Cape Arago to the California border is set to open this Saturday, Feb. 4.

The commercial season was delayed this year due to crab with low meat fill and high domoic acid levels.

Read the full article at OPB

ALASKA: Northwest, Alaska crabbers strike for better prices

January 19, 2023 — The new year started off with a fizzle for West Coast and Alaska crab fisheries, with fleets in Oregon and Alaska striking for higher ex-vessel prices. 

In Oregon, the Dungeness Dec. 1 opening was delayed in hopes that meat fill in the crabs would increase, and that levels of domoic acid would decrease in some of the test areas. Equally driving delays was the fleet’s effort of nudging processors’ offers closer to $4.75 per pound, like they started with in 2022, rather than the $2.25 per pound they offered in the advent of the 2023 season. 

The official date of the opening had been moved to Jan. 15, with areas in Washington opening on Feb. 1, but many opted to stay tied to the docks in hopes that prices among processors would start closer to $4.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

OREGON: Oregon Dungeness crab fishermen criticize repeated delay of season opener

January 17, 2023 — In an open letter to Caren Braby, the Marine Resources Program manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Dungeness crab fishers from Astoria to Port Orford lambasted the decision made by the Department to delay the opening of the Dungeness crab season along the entire Oregon coast.

The letter alleged that the decision flies in the face of the revised Tri-State Protocol, established to ensure that the Dungeness crab fishery remains sustainable and that the fishing communities of Washington, Oregon, and California continue to capitalize on this economic resource.

The letter, presented by captains Perry Kanury Bordeaux of Newport and Levi Cherry of Garibaldi, and bearing signatures from Dungeness crab permit holders who either own or operate fishing vessels that are 58 feet or less length, outlines in detail the struggles that have been imposed upon them as small vessel owners, upon consumers, and upon both the pelagic and benthic ecosystems by the unnecessary and extensive delay of the Dungeness crab season.

It also calls upon the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to make use of the revisions that allow for partial crab openers on the Oregon coast, revisions which fishers fought hard for, and points to the lack of transparency on the part of the Department in their decisions this season to not implement the accepted protocol.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Dungeness crab harvest delayed off Washington, Oregon coast

January 11, 2023 — The key Dungeness crab harvest areas from Klipsan Beach, Washington, to Cape Falcon, Oregon, will not open until Feb. 1 because surveys found legal-sized males still lacked enough recoverable meat in their shells.

A policy group that includes the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife made the announcement late last week, The Seattle Times reported.

Read the full article at the Associated Press  

OREGON: Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab season to see limited opening on Jan. 15

January 10, 2023 — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has announced that the state’s commercial crabbing season will see a partial opening on Jan. 15 from Cape Falcon in Tillamook County to Cape Arago in Coos County.

The news comes after more than a month of delays caused by dangerously high domoic acid levels and undesirably low meat levels among Dungeness crab populations in the Western Pacific. The commercial season will open from Cape Falcon to the Washington border on Feb. 1, per the tri-state protocol agreed upon by Oregon, Washington and California, as tested crabs in the region reportedly now meet industry standards. California’s Commercial crabbing season opened statewide on Dec. 31, 2022.

Executive Director of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission Tim Novotny said the seasonal fishing delays aren’t ideal for the industry, but that the quality testing is crucial for maintaining consumer confidence year after year.

“Look, everyone wants to start Dec. 1,” Novotny said. “But the fishermen know that this process sets a high bar on purpose, so consumers know they’re getting the highest quality and safest product possible.”

Preferred Dec. 1 openings, which allow crabbers to set prices and get meat into markets during the holiday season, have become uncommon in recent years. The industry has seen one undelayed, coastwide opening since 2014.

Read the full article at KOIN

OREGON: Oregon commercial Dungeness crabbing season to open Jan. 15 after weekslong delay

January 9, 2023 — Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab season opens Jan. 15 for much of the coast after a weekslong delay.

Oregon Fish and Wildlife initially had a targeted opening date of Dec. 1, but that was delayed after pre-season tests showed crabs had too little meat yield as well as elevated levels of domoic acid.

The state agency says commercial crabbers can begin fishing between Cape Arago near Coos Bay up to Cape Falcon near Cannon Beach, since all crabs tested within that region have passed meat and biotoxin tests. The season will open from Cape Falcon up to Washington state on Feb. 1. More info.

Read the full article at OPB