Crabbers protest delay of Dungeness season
Jan. 4—A group of crabbers on the Oregon Coast is pushing back on the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's decision to continue to delay the commercial Dungeness crab season.
While the season, one of Oregon's most valuable fisheries, is traditionally scheduled to open Dec. 1, delays — based on several different factors — have been common in recent years.
The state has postponed opening day three times this season. On Dec. 22, the state announced that the season would start no sooner than Jan. 15, citing preseason testing that showed low meat yield on the southern and northern coasts. The state also pointed to elevated domoic acid in some crab viscera.
On Tuesday, in a letter to Caren Braby, a marine resources program manager for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, over 20 crabbers — many from Newport and Garibaldi — criticized the state's decision making and called for opening the fishery in areas where thresholds have been met.
The crabbers, who state that they all own or operate a small commercial vessel, claim that the decision to repeatedly delay the season has "caused severe hardship on multiple fronts."
The letter points to economic losses and dangerous fishing conditions during January and February, as well as impacts to consumers and potential ecological risks.
"The economic harm that the delay has caused Oregon's fishing community is hard to overstate," the letter states. "This harm is felt disproportionately by small fishers, many of whom, including several of us, depend heavily on sales (during) the peak holiday season Dungeness harvest to pay our mortgages and meet our living and business expenses."
Last season was the first time in years that the fishery opened on Dec. 1. During the 2021-2022 season, fishermen landed over 17 million pounds of Dungeness crab coastwide in Oregon for an ex-vessel value of $91.5 million — a record high.
The state tests crabs out of Oregon's six major crabbing ports. In data from the most recently released testing in December, meat yield was below the threshold in Astoria, Port Orford and Brookings, but the standard was met in Newport and Coos Bay. The initial results in Garibaldi were below the threshold, but retesting showed it above.
The letter states that the decision to not implement a partial opening was unwarranted.
"Any further decision to continue the delay beyond Jan. 15 would ... exacerbate each of these issues to catastrophic effect," the letter states. "As a practical matter, if the (state Department of Fish and Wildlife) were to double down on the failed policy of delay that has prevailed this season to date, it would irreversibly destroy many of our small businesses and livelihoods."
Meghan Dugan, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that the department received the letter and will take it into consideration, along with input from the entire fleet along the Oregon Coast and the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission.
The department follows state regulations and the tri-state protocol — as Oregon, Washington state and California work together to test crabs and often coordinate opening dates. California opened its commercial Dungeness crab season on Dec. 31, while Washington state has aligned with Oregon.
"Decisions are based on a complex set of factors including meat fill testing to ensure quality product for consumers, biotoxins testing to protect public health ... and logistics for the fleet," Dugan said in an email. " ... We value input from all commercial crab permit holders and fishery participants."
A decision on opening day can be expected on Friday, Dugan said.
The letter also called for more transparency in the fishery's management and decision making, and asked for a broader range of voices on the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission.
"I know from my outreach that there are many, many more members of Oregon's fishing fleet who support our position but are not yet comfortable speaking out publicly at this juncture," Perry Bordeaux, who fishes out of Newport and helped organize the efforts around the letter, said in a statement. "I expect that as momentum builds in favor (of) clearer rules regarding the season opener, more and more small to mid-sized crabbers will step up and join our push for more equitable, transparent and principled decision making at the state level."
