Saving Seafood

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

OREGON: Crabbers protest delay of Dungeness season

January 5, 2022 — A group of crabbers on the Oregon Coast is pushing back on the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s decision to continue to delay the commercial Dungeness crab season.

While the season, one of Oregon’s most valuable fisheries, is traditionally scheduled to open Dec. 1, delays — based on several different factors — have been common in recent years.

The state has postponed opening day three times this season. On Dec. 22, the state announced that the season would start no sooner than Jan. 15, citing preseason testing that showed low meat yield on the southern and northern coasts. The state also pointed to elevated domoic acid in some crab viscera.

On Tuesday, in a letter to Caren Braby, a marine resources program manager for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, over 20 crabbers — many from Newport and Garibaldi — criticized the state’s decision making and called for opening the fishery in areas where thresholds have been met.

The crabbers, who state that they all own or operate a small commercial vessel, claim that the decision to repeatedly delay the season has “caused severe hardship on multiple fronts.”

The letter points to economic losses and dangerous fishing conditions during January and February, as well as impacts to consumers and potential ecological risks.

Read the full article at The Astrorian

OREGON: Dungeness crab season closure has ‘cut off a key economic lifeline to small coastal fishing communities’

January 4, 2022 — As previously reported, the ocean commercial Dungeness crab season remains closed until at least Jan. 15, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW).

As Oregon Dungeness crab fishers wait for the opening of the new season, stalled by state and federal health and safety regulations, the following has been released by members of the Oregon Dungenness crab fishers.

Read the full article at Tillamook Headline Herald

California imposes 50 percent gear reduction for Dungeness opening New Year’s Eve

December 28, 2022 — California’s crab fleet starts setting half of its Dungeness gear at 8:01 a.m. Wednesday morning, preparing for a Dec. 31 season opener after six weeks of postponement while humpback whales were on the move.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife imposed the 50 percent trap reduction as an additional caution for avoiding gear entanglements when the fishery is opened at 12:01 a.m. As has been typical during the last four years, the season opener was delayed – three times in fall 2022 – as state officials tracked whale movements and assessed potential danger.

The state’s Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP) regulations, set in 2020, require restrictions on crab fishing when whales are on the move in fishing areas and the risk of entanglement is high.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

CALIFORNIA: California’s commercial Dungeness crab season delayed again

December 10, 2022 — The start of the commercial Dungeness crab season in California has been delayed further to protect humpback whales from becoming entangled in trap and buoy lines.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife said Wednesday that commercial crabbing will be delayed until at least Dec. 30. The situation will be reassessed on or before Dec. 22.

It’s the third delay for the start of the commercial season, which traditionally begins Nov. 15 for waters between the Mendocino county line and the border with Mexico.

Read the full article at the Associated Press