Oregon, Washington Making Crab Fishery Changes to Minimize Entanglements
Potential whale entanglements are changing the way Dungeness crab fishermen can fish. California already is subject to court-ordered season changes. Washington and Oregon are proposing or implementing new requirements for this season and into the future.
Industry notices to Washington crabbers this month detailed reduced pot limits that will take effect in May and annually after that. Between May 1 and Sept. 15, Washington crab licenses with a permanent pot limit of 500 will be reduced to 330 pots; licenses with permanent pot limits of 300 will be reduced to 200 pots. Additionally, crabbers fishing after May 1 must have summer buoy tags attached to their gear. Each tag costs $1.25.
"The intent of these changes is to reduce the risk of whales becoming entangled in commercial crab gear by reducing the number of lines in the water during the peak time when...
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