Saving Seafood

OREGON: ODFW seeks nominee for Pacific Fisheries Management Council

December 31, 2025 — ODFW is accepting nominations for a seat on the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The three-year term for this Oregon at-large seat begins Aug. 11, 2026.

Anyone interested in being considered, or wishing to nominate someone, must contact Jessica Watson at 541-351-1196 or jessica.l.watson@odfw.oregon.gov. Completed application packets must be submitted no later than Jan. 23, 2026.

The Oregon at-large seat is currently held by Brad Pettinger, who is not eligible for re-appointment to another three-year term, since he has completed his full allotment of terms. ODFW will send all nominations to the Governor who will then forward the names of at least three candidates to the National Marine Fisheries Service (in the U.S. Department of Commerce) for consideration. Successful appointees must pass an extensive FBI background check.

Read the full article at the Lake County Examiner

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

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

OREGON: Crabbing season faces new delays

December 12, 2025 — North Coast crabbing season to stay closed until at least Dec. 31

On Friday, Dec. 5, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced delays to the North Coast commercial Dungeness crab season until at least Wednesday, Dec. 31, citing Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife meat fill test results.

According to an ODFW press release issued on Dec. 5, the commercial season will be open from Cape Falcon to the California border on Dec. 16. The North Coast’s season will remain closed until at least Dec. 31.

“The crabs in Oregon were good north of Cape Falcon,” said Rob Seitz, a local fisherman, “but the ones just north of the river in Washington didn’t quite make it.”

The meat fill test is done to ensure that the crabs have enough meat to meet consumer standards, and to keep the ecosystem healthy, according to ODFW. The required meat recovery percentage is 23%; Long Beach crabs only had a meat fill rate of 22.5%.

The decision to only open Cape Falcon to the California border allows crabbers to ensure that their product is of consistent quality.

Read the full article at The Astorian

Feds deny petition to list two Oregon Chinook salmon populations as endangered

December 10, 2025 — A group of environmental nonprofits filed a petition in 2022 to protect the spring-run Chinook along the Oregon Coast and part of Northern California.

Jeff Miller from the Center for Biological Diversity said spring-run Chinook are more threatened by habitat changes than fish that return in the fall.

“Spring-run are blocked in their migration to where they ideally want to go,” Miller said. “A lot of their former spawning habitat is blocked above major dams.”

Spring-run Chinook return from the ocean much earlier than the fall-run salmon and will stay in deep-water pools until the fall, when they head further upstream to spawn. That means spring-run Chinook often spawn further upstream than fall-run.

Read the full article at KLCC

Pacific halibut catches declined this year

December 9, 2025 — The Pacific halibut fishery ended on Dec. 7, and by all accounts, things remained on a stagnant trend. Stakeholders are dealing with the fallout from the lowest Pacific halibut spawning biomass in 40 years, and harvesters widely reported catches of fewer and smaller fish.

The annual survey conducted since 1963 by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) revealed little change in the halibut stock that stretches from Alaska’s northern Bering Sea, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon to California’s Monterey Bay.

By early December, coast-wide commercial landings of halibut totaled 16.7 million pounds, down 16 percent from the same time last year and reflecting just  80 percent of the allowable catch limit in 2025.

According to a report by the IPHC at its interim meeting on December 2, total halibut takes (called mortalities) from all sectors – commercial, sport, personal use, and subsistence – were 28.8 million pounds, down 12% from last year, and marking the lowest removals in 100 years.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

OREGON: Oregon fisheries try old technology to boost salmon returns

December 8, 2025 — On a tributary of the Clatskanie River, near Astoria, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has set up a “hatchbox.”

It’s basically six large barrels: three that filter the stream water and three that carry trays of salmon eggs so the water can flow over them.

Tom Stahl, with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said hatchboxes can be useful tools in the attempt to restore salmon to local waterways.

When salmon eggs in the barrels turn into tiny fish, usually around January, they’ll be swept into the stream. Essentially, the hatchbox protects the eggs from predators while they grow. Hatchboxes can also be used to bring fish eggs from other locations and introduce them into a new stream.

Older Oregonians may remember hatchboxes from school, where they were used to illustrate the salmon’s lifecycle. But over the years hatchboxes have fallen out of favor, largely because the fish they release compete with wild salmon.

Read the full article at the OPB

OREGON: Oregon to open southern coast for Dungeness crab harvest 16 December

December 8, 2025 — After delaying the full season by two weeks, the U.S. state of Oregon will open its southern coast to commercial Dungeness crab harvesting on 16 December.

“Oregon’s crab fishery is an economic driver for coastal communities,” Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Marine Resources Program Manager Justin Ainsworth said in a release. “I appreciate crab fishermen being patient as we tried to align our opening with Washington, but the best option now is to open up what we can.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource