Commercial Ocean and Bay Crabbing Delayed Along Oregon Coast

Published 11/22/24 at 5:15 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Newport, Oregon) – The commercial Dungeness crab season close to the Oregon coast normally gets underway in about a week – typically December 1. However, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced this week it will have to be delayed due to low meat yield and some amount of domoic acid in some areas.

Recreational crabbing in the ocean may still be affected.

“Pre-season testing shows Dungeness crabs are too low in meat yield in some ocean areas and have elevated domoic acid in crab viscera (guts) in two areas on the south coast,” ODFW said.

Delaying the season somewhat to ensure a high quality product is not uncommon. The crab population off the coast sometimes takes a little longer to fill out its shells.

Currently, Oregon's commercial bay crab fishery is open from Cape Blanco (Port Orford) to the Washington border, but will close at 12:01 a.m. on December 1 in alignment with the delayed ocean commercial season. Although the bay crab season is scheduled to run through December 31, it will only reopen in December if the ocean commercial season does so.

Seaside Aquarium photo

In the coming weeks, the next round of crab meat yield and biotoxin testing will take place. These results will determine if the season opens on December 16, faces further delays, or is divided into areas with different opening dates.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), in partnership with the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, the Oregon Department of Agriculture, and the commercial Dungeness crab industry, tests crabs from Oregon's six major crabbing ports.

Weekly updates on the season opening will be posted online until a final decision is made.

“During the 2023-24 season, the commercial Dungeness crab season was delayed and opened in stages due to low meat yield,” ODFW said. “Commercial fishermen landed 24.7 million pounds of crab at an ex-vessel value of $93.6 million. A history of Oregon’s commercial crab landings is available online.”

The recreational ocean Dungeness crab season is set to reopen on Dec. 1 as scheduled in areas without elevated biotoxins. Recreational crab harvesting in bays, estuaries, and on beaches, docks, piers, and jetties is currently open from Cape Blanco to the Washington border. Recreational crabbers should always check the Shellfish Hotline at 800-448-2474 or visit the ODA Recreational Shellfish Biotoxin Closures webpage before crabbing.

Testing of Dungeness quality is coordinated along the entire West Coast, including Oregon, Washington and California.

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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