Saving Seafood

OREGON: Oregon delays Dungeness crab season after Washington testing falls short

November 25, 2025 — Officials in the U.S. state of Oregon have decided to delay the state’s commercial Dungeness crab season by at least two weeks, despite preseason testing showing that the state’s crabs met the regulatory threshold for meat recovery.

In a 21 November announcement, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) declared that it would be pushing back the season opening from 1 December to 16 December due to testing in Long Beach, Washington, the only site to show lower meat recovery levels.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

OREGON: Commercial Dungeness season delayed until at least Dec. 16, ODFW announces Friday, to wait for Washington improvements

November 24, 2025 — Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab season is delayed coastwide until at least Dec. 16, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Friday.

Dungeness crab along the Oregon coast met both meat and safe biotoxin level requirements, however the ODFW said the season will be delayed as crab tested in the Long Beach, Wash. area have not yet met the meat fill requirement.

In a news release Friday, the ODFW said most Dungeness crab advisory committee members supported the delay as it is least disruptive to traditional fishing patterns and may improve market conditions. The tension comes because if the Washington season is closed and the Oregon season is open, then Washington crabbers with permits for both states move their operations to the north Oregon coast, putting extra pressure on the fishery.

Read the full article at KLCC

OREGON: Oregon seeks public input on endangered orca management strategy

July 25, 2025 — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking feedback on its draft Endangered Species Management Plan for Southern Resident Orcas.

The agency presented its findings and how it plans to support the endangered species during a virtual meeting on July 9, and is currently accepting comments through Aug. 15.

ODFW’s draft plan includes continuing to work to restore healthy salmon populations, protect orcas from development in Oregon waters, and focus on education efforts. In addition, the proposal includes new plans to increase salmon hatchery production, explore the possibility of regulations for boaters, and additional data collection efforts.

Read the full article at KOIN

OREGON: Dungeness crab haul is down this season for Oregon fleet, but strong prices making up for less volume

February 19, 2025 — Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab catch is down so far this season but the price fishermen are getting for their catch is buoying the fleet’s spreadsheets.

“The volume is down but the price has been really good so the actual money to the boats is still up there,” said Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s state fishery manager Troy Buell.

Last year at this time approximately 17½ million pounds had been landed for a price paid to fishermen of about $63 million.

“This year we’ve got just under 14 million pounds, but the total revenue to the boats is actually better at over $83 million,” Buell said.

The structure of this season’s opening was staggered to allow crab in Oregon’s northern waters to better fill out with meat. The opening was not exactly the same as last year’s staggered opening, but close enough to make a comparison.

The season, which can open as early as Dec. 1, was delayed until Dec. 16 from the California border to Cape Falcon near Manzanita. Cape Falcon north to the Washington border opened Jan. 7.

Read the full article at KLCC 

Oregon’s own squid game: Crab still tops state’s commercial fishing, but squid is gaining

November 12, 2021 — Oregon’s crabbing industry is known as the state’s most lucrative in the fishing market, but another food from the sea is thriving off the coast: squid.

In 2014, about 1,000 pounds of squid were caught by Oregon-based commercial fishers. Last year saw a huge jump — the haul was more than 10 million pounds.

Josh Whaley, who has been fishing for squid since 2019, told OPB he started after encouragement from the market. He and his team fish for an Astoria company called Da Yang Seafood, which had been buying squid from other fishermen.

“We felt very comfortable that we would be able to sell them because the processors had a high demand for them. The fish buyers out there are very encouraged about squid because it’s a fairly low labor and fairly easy to process product on their end,” Whaley said.

Read the full story at OPB

 

CARES Act draft spend plan for Oregon available for review

August 11, 2021 — The following was released by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife:

ODFW has posted a draft of the proposed spend plan for the second round of Oregon distribution of federal CARES Act fisheries relief funding at https://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/CARES/index.asp.

Marine and coastal fishery businesses who have experienced economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic are encouraged to review the draft and provide input.

About $13 million is available for Oregon’s marine and coastal fishery sectors experiencing significant economic impacts from the global COVID-19 pandemic. The relief aid slated for Oregon is part of $255 million in fisheries assistance funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). ODFW is the lead State agency working with fishery participants to coordinate aid.

The spend plan details how the distribution of these relief funds will be conducted in Oregon.  The plan builds upon successful aspects of round one funding completed in January 2021, with adjustments to address identified gaps.

The plan must be approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Once approved, the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission will manage the application process and distribute funds.

Comments on the plan should be sent to ODFW.CARESACT@odfw.oregon.gov. Comments received by Sunday, Aug. 22 will be reviewed and considered during finalization of the spend plan.

“We want to provide one more opportunity for Oregon businesses to comment on the draft plan before we submit a final version, and also realize that some may have missed our June public meeting,” said Chris Kern, ODFW Deputy Fish Division Administrator.

A recording and materials from the June 2021 online meeting are available one the ODFW CARES Act web page.

Oregon Bill Aims to Fund Actions Supporting Fisheries, Communities in face of Changing Ocean

July 20, 2021 — Oregon is taking healthy oceans seriously. The state legislature passed House Bill 3114 in what proponents call a historic Oregon first in the fight against ocean acidification and hypoxia. It will help retain the successful sport and commercial fisheries on which coastal economies depend, proponents say.

It also shows Oregon leaders’ awareness of the importance of healthy oceans, according to a press release from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Oregon is an epicenter for acidification and hypoxia and was one of the first places in the world to observe direct impacts of ocean change when oyster hatchery production collapsed in 2007 from ocean acidification.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Oregon Sets New Regulations for Growing Market Squid Fishery

March 29, 2021 — While California’s market squid has dipped over the past few years, it’s hit the big time in Oregon: The state has established directed fishery regulations for the growing fishing effort for Doryteuthis opalescens.

More market squid have been showing up in Oregon waters since 2016 and fishermen followed. From the 1980s to 2015, the catch was sporadic, with the harvest off of Oregon totaling a little more than 4.5 million pounds for that entire time. The squid — and the fishermen — were most prevalent off of California.

Read the full story at Seafood News

EDF’s SmartPass program aims to bring artificial intelligence to US fisheries management

February 18, 2021 — Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is launching a new program with the aim of improving data collection and fisheries management.

The program, SmartPass, integrates shore-based cameras with artificial intelligence to get a more accurate assessment of the number of vessels fishing in a particular region, according to EDF Global Fisheries Initiatives Senior Manager Sepp Haukebo.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

OREGON: ODFW seeks nominees for Pacific fisheries council

January 21, 2021 — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is accepting nominations for a seat on the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The deadline to request nomination materials is Feb. 19, and the three-year term begins Aug. 11.

The council manages fisheries for approximately 119 species of salmon, groundfish, coastal pelagic species (sardines, anchovies and mackerel) and highly migratory species (tunas, sharks and swordfish) off the coasts of Oregon, Washington and California. It includes 14 voting members representing tribal and state fish and wildlife agencies, and private citizens knowledgeable about sport fishing, commercial fishing and/or marine conservation.

The ideal candidate would be knowledgeable about fishery resource conservation and management in marine waters off the West Coast. Specific knowledge of and experience in management issues and fisheries is important, as is a strong conservation ethic. The successful candidate also must work collectively with other council members, often making difficult decisions, to fulfill the standards set forth by the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Members make a substantial time commitment to fully participate in council business and related activities.

Read the full story at the Newport News Times