Saving Seafood

CALIFORNIA: CDFW authorizes first on-demand gear for Dungeness crab

January 30, 2026 — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has approved the first-ever state-authorized on-demand fishing gear for use in California’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery, marking a significant step forward in efforts to reduce marine life entanglement risk.

CDFW supports the development and testing of fishing gear modifications and innovations aimed at lowering the risk of entanglement with Dungeness crab fishing gear. Currently, the state offers two primary pathways for testing and using innovative or experimental fishing gear: Experimental Fishing Permits (EFPs) and alternative gear authorization.

Under the state’s Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program, alternative gear authorization establishes a process for certifying innovative gear types that reduce entanglement risk. Once authorized by the CDFW director, alternative gear may be used between April 1 and the closure of the commercial Dungeness crab statutory season in areas that would otherwise be closed to traditional crab fishing.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

OREGON: Oregon implements new rules for crab fishers to reduce whale deaths

January 29, 2026 — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is implementing temporary rule changes for Dungeness crab fishers in the 2025-26 season to restrict gear and areas where fishing can occur.

Beginning April 1, crab fishers must comply with late-season whale entanglement risk reduction measures, including a 20% reduction in pot limits, a 40-fathom depth restriction and the mandatory use of secondary buoy tags.

The changes follow a petition conservation groups filed Dec. 11 asking the state to adopt measures to reduce whale and sea turtle entanglements in Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery after a record number of humpback whales were caught in Oregon Dungeness crab fishing gear in 2024 and 2025.

Read the full article at OPB

OREGON: Oregon takes actions to reduce entanglement risks in commercial Dungeness crab fishery

January 28, 2026 — The U.S. state of Oregon has moved up its “late-season” Dungeness crab gear regulations by a month in an effort to reduce the likelihood of whale entanglements.

The late-season rules – which prohibit setting gear in waters deeper than 40 fathoms and require fishers to use 20 percent fewer pots and special buoy tags on each pot – were slated to go into effect 1 May. However, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has decided to move up the start date to 1 April in a bid to prevent any humpback whale entanglements.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

CALIFORNIA: California to open last section of coast for commercial Dungeness crab harvesting

January 26, 2026 — The U.S. state of California is set to open up the last section of its coast to commercial Dungeness crab harvesting after testing revealed domoic acid levels in the area had gone down.

Although the rest of the state’s coastline opened for commercial harvesting earlier in January, a small stretch from the southern tip of the Reading Rock State Marine Protected Area to Cape Mendocino was further delayed due to elevated levels of domoic acid in crabs sampled from those waters. Domoic acid is a naturally occurring neurotoxin that can cause health issues for humans when they consume shellfish that contain high levels of it.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

CALIFORNIA: California delays commercial crab season start for section of Northern coast

January 13, 2026 — The state of California has decided to further delay the start of the commercial crab season along a stretch of its Northern coast after detecting elevated levels of domoic acid in the area.

After facing a delay of several weeks due to an abundance of whales off the state’s coast, California has been starting the commercial Dungeness crab season piecemeal as conditions improve in designated fishing zones. Crabbing in the central management area launched 5 January, while the Northern section of the coast was slated to open 15 January.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

CALIFORNIA: Dungeness crab fishing season opens, but weather and price disputes causes delays

January 6, 2025 — While the Dungeness crab fishing season opened on Monday, many fishermen did not head out on the water.

“Not today with the bad weather,” said Sal Tringali with Monterey Fish Company.

On top of recent storms creating dangerous conditions on the water, fishermen are also in price disputes with buyers.

Since state regulations, aimed at protecting whales from fishing line entanglements, delayed the season until after the holiday demand and require fishermen to go out with 40% less gear this year, they are hoping to get a better opening price.

In a news release, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations said, “Member fishermen are united in standing together to achieve a fair price, recognizing that fishing at a price 30 percent lower than last year is not economically viable. Operating costs continue to rise, while fishing days have been reduced by more than half under new regulations in recent years.”

Read the full article at KSBW

WASHINGTON: Crabbers catch fair winds, decent price

January 5, 2026 — Calm seas and a fair price made for a rosy start to this year’s crabbing season.

Ryan Walters, owner of the F/V Brandy, was among the local commercial crabbers who made their first Dungeness offload of the season on Thursday, Jan. 1, at Safe Coast Seafoods in Ilwaco.

Walters and crew delivered an estimated 28,000 pounds of crab following their first trip of the season, earning $4.35 per pound from the processor.

Read the full article at Chinook Observer

WASHINGTON: Crabbers get cracking: State’s most lucrative fishery starts with high hopes after delay

December 29, 2025 — The pots are loaded and hopes are high.

After a month-long delay, the 2025-2026 Washington commercial Dungeness crab season is underway — much to the relief of local fishermen — kicking off the most lucrative fishery in the Pacific Northwest.

Fast and furious start

Each year, the vast majority of Dungeness is landed in the first two months, turning the first few weeks of the season into a marathon for fishermen and local processors.

By noon Saturday, Dec. 27, at the Port of Chinook, South Bend Products deck boss Herman Sevilla had helped load more than half a dozen boats with thousands of pots, a typical pace for the start of the commercial crab season.

Later in the day, fishing crews were going to begin loading crab bait — a frozen mix of rockfish, tuna, herring — which is then placed in plastic or metal bait jars before going into the crab pot.

Read the full article at the Chinook Observer

OREGON: Conservation groups urge Oregon to reduce whale deaths from crab fishing gear

December 29, 2025 — After at least four humpback whales were entangled this year in Oregon commercial Dungeness crab fishing gear, conservation groups are petitioning the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to adopt measures to reduce the amount of fishing gear during whale feeding and migration seasons.

Filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana, Natural Resources Defense Council and the American Cetacean Society, the petition asks officials to open a pathway for fishers to use pop-up fishing gear, which eliminates untended buoy lines. The gear has been tested in the California Dungeness crab fishery, and conservation groups say it is reliable, profitable and safe for whales and other marine animals.

“This year’s horrific entanglements show that humpbacks are in a lot of danger from Oregon crab gear,” said Ben Grundy, an oceans campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “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.”

The petition, filed earlier this month, comes weeks after a young entangled humpback whale was found stranded on a beach north of Yachats. Veterinarians euthanized the whale after unsuccessful attempts to free it on Nov. 17. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife  is investigating the entanglement.

Read the full article at The Oregon Capital Chronicle

California commercial Dungeness crab season set to open on January 5

December 22, 2025 — California’s commercial Dungeness crab season is set to open on January 5 with limits on the number of commercial traps because of the risk of humpback whale entanglements, authorities said Friday.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that the Central Management Area from the Sonoma/Mendocino County line to Point Conception in Santa Barbara County will operate under a 40% trap reduction for commercial crabbing. Those fishermen will be allowed to begin setting traps during a “pre-soak” period starting on January 2.

Commercial crab fishing from the Oregon border to the Sonoma/Mendocino County line will remain delayed until January 15, with pre-soak beginning on January 12 with a 15% trap reduction, the CDFW said. The additional delay in northern waters is due to high levels of domoic acid in crab, which will require more testing before the all-clear is given, the CDFW said. Domoic acid is a neurotoxin produced by certain algae that can accumulate in shellfish and cause amnesic shellfish poisoning in humans.

In addition, the delay in the north will trigger California’s “fair start” rule, which bars vessels that fished in any other Dungeness crab area earlier in the season, including Oregon and Washington, from fishing in the newly opened delayed area for 30 days.

Read the full article at CBS News