May 21, 2025 — The West Coast seafood industry is caught in the crosshairs of tariff uncertainty. International orders have been canceled, which impacts Oregon workers. Industry leaders and Oregon’s Democratic Congressional delegation have asked the US Department of Agriculture to step in. Lori Steele is the executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association. She joins us with details of the challenges facing the industry.
OREGON: Oregon lawmakers urge Trump administration to declare fishery disaster
April 16, 2025 — A group of Oregon Democratic lawmakers are urging the Trump administration to declare a fishery disaster in the state after a drop in the salmon population.
In an April 11 letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the lawmakers asked the administration to approve Governor Tina Kotek’s disaster declaration request after Oregon’s troll salmon fishery struggled from the worsening effects of climate change in 2024 — from increased drought to shifting ocean conditions and to other impacts leading to poor salmon returns.
Struggling fisheries pose an economic and cultural threat to Oregon, the lawmakers said, noting the state’s commercial fishing industry garners more than $640 million in economic activity every year.
OREGON: Oregon’s Congressional delegation urges fishery disaster declaration
April 14, 2025 — U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley is leading his Democratic colleagues in the Oregon delegation—Senator Ron Wyden and U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), and Janelle Bynum (OR-05)—in urging the U.S. Department of Commerce to declare a federal fishery resource disaster for the 2024 Oregon troll salmon fishery.
“We write to urge your expeditious approval of Oregon Governor Kotek’s request for a fishery resource disaster declaration under section 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act for the Oregon troll salmon fishery. This declaration is critical to provide economic relief to Oregon’s fisheries and coastal communities in addition to protecting the sustainability of wild salmon populations,” the lawmakers state in a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce Director.
In 2024, Oregon’s troll salmon fishery struggled amid worsening effects of climate change, increased drought, shifting ocean conditions, and other impacts leading to poor salmon returns, the release states. Facing these significant challenges, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) estimates that 2024 Chinook salmon population levels were below forecasts, with 2025 Chinook salmon populations likely “not high enough to allow for target summer Chinook fisheries.
OREGON: Oregon crab fishery faces scrutiny after record whale entanglements
February 28, 2025 — Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery is under increasing pressure to address whale entanglements after a record-breaking four incidents in 2024, including one as recently as January 6th.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has issued an advisory to crabbers, urging them to be vigilant and avoid setting gear in areas where whales are transiting or foraging; however, conservation groups like Oceana, a leading ocean conservation organization, criticized the advisory as inadequate and the voluntary measures are insufficient and they are calling for stronger, more decisive action.
Conservationists sue feds to protect Pacific Northwest salmon populations
February 19, 2025 — Conservation groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday morning against the National Marine Fisheries Service for missing its deadline to determine if spring-run Chinook salmon in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California warranted protection under the Endangered Species Act. The organizations behind the lawsuit seek a court order to compel the Fisheries Service to issue a finding within a suitable time frame.
“These iconic fish are at risk of disappearing from our coastal rivers forever if the Service doesn’t act quickly,” Jeremiah Scanlan, a legal fellow at the Center for Biological Diversity, said. “Spring-run Chinook salmon badly need protections, but instead, the agency has taken the lazy river approach and drifted past its own deadlines.”
The Center for Biological Diversity, Native Fish Society, Umpqua Watersheds, and Pacific Rivers claim the Fisheries Service violated federal law when it failed to issue a timely finding within 12 months of their petition asking for three Chinook salmon populations to be listed as “threatened” or “endangered” — the Oregon Coast Chinook salmon, the Southern Oregon and Northern California Coastal Chinook salmon, and the Washington Coast spring-run Chinook salmon.
“The agency’s failure to meet the deadlines delays crucial, lifesaving protections for these species, increasing their risk of extinction,” the groups said in their lawsuit.
Chinook salmon, also known as “king salmon,” are the largest of all Pacific salmon species. Although the fish were once abundant in the river basins of the Pacific Northwest, their populations have declined sharply in recent years and are now only a fraction of their historical size.
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.
WASHINGTON: Coastal Dungeness crab season kicks off after months of testing
February 7, 2025 — The state’s coastal commercial Dungeness crab season is underway, following months of test fishing and data gathering by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
This year’s season opened Jan. 15 from Klipsan Beach on the Long Beach Peninsula south to Cape Falcon, Ore., including the Columbia River and Willapa Bay, and will start Feb. 11 from Klipsan Beach north to the U.S.-Canada border, including Grays Harbor, according to a news release from WDFW.
The Washington, Oregon and California fish and wildlife departments decide season openers each year as part of a tri-state agreement signed in the 1990s to cooperatively manage the West Coast Dungeness crab fishery. Per the agreement, the season can open as early as Dec. 1, but opening dates vary and are based on test fishing to determine crab condition.
Over the fall and early winter, WDFW biologists and scientific technicians collected and measured crabs aboard commercial fishing vessels the Department contracts with for test fishing. They also observed seafood processing plants as workers picked out and packed crab meat.
OREGON: Oregon issues advisory to crab fleet amid rising whale entanglements
February 5, 2025 — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife issued an advisory to the state’s commercial Dungeness crab fleet, urging caution due to the risk of whale entanglements. The advisory follows a recent incident on January 6, when a humpback whale was reported entangled in crab gear, and comes after a record high of four whale entanglements in Oregon crab gear in 2024.
The department’s guidance, which is voluntary, advises the fleet to “remain vigilant and avoid setting gear in areas where whales are transiting or foraging to minimize risk of entanglement.” However, critics argue that these measures are insufficient.
Ben Enticknap, Oceana campaign director and senior scientist, said, “Advice to remain vigilant and keep tight lines is woefully insufficient to protect threatened and endangered whales from becoming fatally entangled in the Oregon commercial crab fishery.”
Enticknap emphasized the need for a more robust conservation plan, stating, “Oregon fish and wildlife managers must act swiftly and decisively to implement a conservation plan that reduces whale entanglements, not one that maintains the status quo.”
Hydroelectric dams on Oregon’s Willamette River kill salmon. Congress says it’s time to consider shutting them down
January 16, 2025 — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it could make hydroelectric dams on Oregon’s Willamette River safe for endangered salmon by building gigantic mechanical traps and hauling baby fish downstream in tanker trucks. The Corps started pressing forward over objections from fish advocates and power users who said the plan was costly and untested.
That was until this month, when President Joe Biden signed legislation ordering the Corps to put its plans on hold and consider a simpler solution: Stop using the dams for electricity.
The new law, finalized on Jan. 4, follows reporting from Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica in 2023 that underscored risks and costs associated with the Corps’ plan. The agency is projected to lose $700 million over 30 years generating hydropower, and a scientific review found that the type of fixes the Corps is proposing would not stop the extinction of threatened salmon.
The mandate says the Corps needs to shelve designs for its fish collectors — essentially massive floating vacuums expected to cost $170 million to $450 million each — until it finishes studying what the river system would look like without hydropower. The Corps must then include that scenario in its long-term designs for the river.
Microplastics found in many of Oregon’s most popular fish
January 10, 2025 — Microplastics — tiny synthetic particles shed from clothing, packaging and other sources — are prevalent in many of the fish species eaten in Oregon, per a new study.
Why it matters: Ingestion of microplastics has been linked to cardiovascular risks and other adverse health impacts.
Driving the news: Researchers at Portland State University looked to quantify how many microplastic particles were making their way into the edible tissues of commonly eaten fish in Oregon.
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