2025 West Coast Pacific Halibut Fishery Opens June 24 

The first of two halibut fishery openers begins next week in federal waters off the West Coast. The first opener starts on Tuesday, June 24 at 8 a.m. and ends on Thursday, June 26 at 6 p.m. The second opener begins on Tuesday, July 9 at 8 a.m. and ends on Thursday, July 10 at 6 p.m. 

This year’s quota for Pacific halibut for the Area 2A fishery is 259,515 pounds, net weight. If the quota is not met, a third fishing period will begin two weeks after...

Oregon Gov. Kotek, Lawmakers Applaud $16 Million Pink Shrimp USDA Purchase

In another win for consumers, the seafood industry, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Oregon pink shrimp will soon become available thanks to a $16 million government purchase.  

The West Coast pink shrimp industry has been reeling from uncertainty due to global markets and potential European retaliatory tariffs; the purchase will help offset some of that, shrimp fishermen and processors said.   

"This is a great day for Oregon seafood communities,” Nick Edwards, Secretary of Shrimp Producers Marketing Cooperative, said in a press release...

Oregon Dems Urge Commerce Department to Declare 2024 Season a Disaster

Oregon’s Democratic Congressional leaders want to send help to salmon fishermen after a 2024 season showed meager results.

Earlier this week, Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Val Hoyle, Andrea Salinas, Maxine Dexter and Janelle Bynum urged the U.S. Department of Commerce to declare a federal fishery resource disaster for the 2024 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 said...

West Coast Salmon Season Alternatives Set; PFMC to Finalize in April 

It was a tough week for salmon fishermen and salmon managers as the Pacific Fishery Management Council crafted three alternatives for 2025 ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon, and California.  

The Salmon Technical Team, which includes state, federal and tribal fishery managers, had to deal with limited access to federal partners, corrupted data files, limited times to run models and more. But in the end, the Team, advisers and Council established three commercial and recreational alternatives for review. 

The Council will make a final decision...

Washington Crab Season Opens as State Releases the Third Season Review Edition

The weather is cooperating and crabbers in northern Oregon and Washington have begun setting their gear for the anticipated Jan. 15 Dungeness season opener.

While most of Oregon opened in December and some parts of California opened earlier this month, northern California and the Washington/Oregon area around the Columbia River were both set to open Wednesday.

Dungeness crab supports Washington’s most valuable commercial fishery, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said. The value of state landings for the ...

FDA Issues Another Shellfish Advisory Amid Widening Norovirus Outbreak

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its fourth advisory in recent weeks, warning Oregon and Washington retailers, restaurants and consumers against selling or consuming certain shellfish due to norovirus concerns. 

The January 2 advisory focused on shellstock oysters harvested from 12/02/2024 to 12/17/2024 by Ruco’s Shellfish (WA-1995-SS) from a portion of Hammersley Inlet growing area in Washington State. The impacted oysters were distributed in Washington and Oregon and may have been sent to other states...

Oregon Crabbers Start Delivering Dungeness to Processors

This year’s Dungeness crab season is already one for the record books, even though the season opened only two days ago. The opening ex-vessel price, according to fishermen, is higher than last year’s average price.

According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, last year’s average price was $3.79 per pound. Fishermen said an agreement reached with at least one of the processors was $4.50 per pound.

Last year’s season was the second-highest on record for Oregon in terms of value, at $93.6 million...

Domoic Acid, Meat Recovery Delays Oregon Crab Season

As if some seriously stormy ocean weather wasn't enough, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Wednesday a delay in the primary commercial Dungeness crab season off Oregon until at least Dec. 16.

Pre-season testing showed Dungeness crabs are too low in meat yield in some ocean areas and have elevated domoic acid levels in crab viscera in two areas on the South Coast.

Viscera from two crab in Area K, Cape Blanco to Gold Beach, landed on Nov. 16, showed levels of 38 and 39 parts ...

Small Oregon Port Gets Big Attention from NOAA, Lawmakers

U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats from Oregon, along with U.S. Rep Val Hoyle, D-Ore.,  recently announced the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries included specific support for Port Orford’s local economy and job growth in its National Seafood Strategic Implementation Plan. 

“World-renowned seafood is synonymous with Oregon and is a vital part of our coastal economy and a delicious part of our dinner tables,” Wyden said in a press release. “I’m gratified NOAA recognizes the important role ...

Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission Approves New Dungeness Crab Rules to Reduce Entanglements

In an effort to reduce whale entanglements in the Dungeness crab fishery, crabbers will be subject to new rules – but not until the 2026-2027 season.

The Oregon Fisha and Wildlife Commission, when it met earlier this month, adopted new line-marking recommendations for the crab fishery so managers can more easily determine which state’s fishery was responsible for any entangled whale.

Across the West Coast, line marking has been identified as a key method for improving identification of gear involved in ...

BOEM Touts First-ever Oregon Offshore Wind Auction

It appears Oregon is the latest in the federal government’s plan to industrialize the ocean for offshore wind development. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced it will hold an auction for two areas on October 15.

BOEM published a Final Sale Notice on its Oregon Activities website today, which is also scheduled to publish in the Federal Register next week. BOEM said the two areas could generate up to 3.1 gigawatts of energy.

“Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, the Interior Department has worked diligently to ...

BOEM Finalizes Environmental Review for Oregon; Re-Starts Process in Hawaii

Following its path for more offshore wind energy, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released a final environmental assessment for Oregon and noticed a Hawai’I Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting for later this month.

The Oregon EA was released ahead of a final sale notice, expected in September, and an auction scheduled for October. Four companies are already qualified to bid in the auction; any other companies interested in bidding had to submit their interest and qualifications within 60 days of the...

Da Yang Seafoods, Astoria Pacific Seafoods Fined By Oregon Department of Environmental Quality 

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued 12 penalties in May for “various environmental violations.” Of those 12 penalties, two were issued to seafood companies: Da Yang Seafoods and Astoria Pacific Seafoods.

Da Yang Seafoods was hit with the largest penalty of all those fined by the state’s DEQ in May. The company must pay $150,000 for discharging wastewater from its processing facility on Pier 2 at the Port of Astoria to waters of the state without a permit on 33 occasions between...

West Coast Salmon Seasons Set: No California Season, Limited Elsewhere

After a week of tense negotiations and discussion, salmon managers finally adopted a set of seasons for Washington, Oregon, and California, as of Tuesday, April 15. Now it’s up to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, or NOAA Fisheries) for approval.  

California commercial season is simple: It’s closed. For the third year in a row. Recreational salmon fishermen will get a chance at a fishery this year, though, the first since 2022. 

Oregon has limited opportunity, due to concerns of Klamath and Sacramento River stocks...

Oregon Issues Annual Pink Shrimp Review Report as New Season Approaches

Oregon’s pink shrimp fishery has had its share of struggles over the years, but it seems the only thing holding it back is broader markets. Last year was particularly strong, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s recently released annual report. 

The 36th Annual Pink Shrimp Review 2025 provides the following: a comprehensive 2024 season review, indicators for the 2025 season (which opens April 1), a review of research regarding pink shrimp, and regulatory changes and more. 

ODFW summarized the 2024 season this way: “The 2024 pink shrimp season was very productive, seeing the highest catch volume since 2015. Shrimp abundances were high, but market demand seemed low.”

Oregon Considers Following in Washington’s Footsteps with Aquaculture Legislation

The Oregon Legislature is considering a bill that would ban open water finfish aquaculture, a move some say is a preemptive strike based on Washington’s ban last year. 

House Bill 2965 sets requirements for raising fish as food for humans and creates a related fund for managing those efforts.  

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Mark Gamba, a Democrat from the Portland metropolitan area and co-sponsored by other Democrats. The first hearing on the bill was held on Wednesday this week, in the Committee on Agriculture, Land Use...

Washington Hits the Magic Number to Open Dungeness Fishery

At long last, the Dungeness crab off Long Beach in Washington tested full enough to open the fishery north of Cape Falcon.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Tuesday that Oregon's commercial Dungeness crab fishery will open Jan. 15 from Cape Falcon, on the northern Oregon Coast, to Klipsan Beach, Washington. A fourth round of preseason testing in Long Beach, Wash., shows crab quality at 24.3%, which is above the 23% necessary to open the season. In other words, it meets the optimal commercial harvest ...

Washington Crab Season Delayed Until at Least January 15; Oregon Going Strong

The news Monday was not exactly a lump of coal, but an early Christmas “gift” many fishermen suspected would be coming: An extended delay into January for the start of the Washington/Northern Oregon crab season.

In an announcement Monday, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said its crab managers met with other fishery managers from Oregon and California earlier in the day to determine the best option for an opening. However, the third round of testing showed crab from Long Beach, Wash., was only ...

NOAA’s Ocean Research Examines Varied Conditions for Juvenile Salmon Off Oregon Coast

According to a news release by NOAA Fisheries on December 6, 2024, researchers at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center have reported varied oceanographic shifts in the northern California Current in 2024.

During the winter of 2023-2024, a strong El Niño event brought warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures to the Pacific Ocean. According to NOAA Fisheries data, the California Current has experienced an increase in El Niño events since the 1980s, with this higher frequency of events seemingly characteristic of recent extended periods of warm ocean conditions...

Oregon Senators Announce $46 Million Will Head to Klamath Basin Restoration

Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) will invest $46,191,133 in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to boost ecosystem restoration and enhance water quality and reliability in the Klamath Basin.

The funding will head towards 24 projects, half of which will take place in Oregon.

A press release from Merkley's office stated that this latest federal funding wave from the landmark law will largely fuel the Klamath River’s recovery and habitat restoration...

Oregon Governor Takes a Stand on Offshore Wind; BOEM Postpones Auction

Plans for Oregon’s offshore wind future blew out like a storm came through on Friday, when Gov. Tina Kotek announced a request to the federal government to cancel the auction and also to withdraw from the Renewable Energy Intergovernmental Task Force.

At the same time, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced it was going to postpone the auction anyway, since only one of the five qualified bidders expressed an interest in participating in the auction schedule for Oct. 15.

“I am disappointed that BOEM’s accelerated ...

Oregon Seeks Applicants for Offshore Wind Roadmap Development as BOEM Readies Auction

In a little more than two weeks, two areas off southern Oregon will be auctioned off for offshore wind development, despite intense resistance from coastal communities, fishermen and tribes concerned about industrializing the Pacific Ocean.

But in an odd twist in timing, Oregon is looking for volunteers to work on an Offshore Wind Roadmap to guide the state’s plans for development. Applications are due by noon Oct. 14, the day before the BOEM auction.

Fishermen, tribes and others have written to Gov. Tina Kotek, requesting ...

Another West Coast Whale Entanglement Reported; States Prepare for Rule Changes

Another humpback whale off Southern Oregon was reported last week, entangled in commercial crab gear from different states, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a fleet advisory notice.

It was the third humpback entanglement attributed by the National Marine Fisheries Service to Oregon commercial crab gear this year.

“Researchers have observed aggregations of humpback whales, primarily in around 55-70 fathoms (100-130 m), but with some whales closer to shore. Blue whales were also observed in waters shallower than 70 fathoms,” the notice ...

Oregon Seaweed Makes It Way Onto New Seasons Market Shelves

New Seasons Market, a neighborhood grocer with locations in Oregon and Washington, announced this week that it has partnered with Oregon Seaweed, a land-based seaweed farm based in Garibaldi, Oregon.

Oregon Seaweed’s flagship product, fresh Pacific dulse is now available in many of New Season Market’s produce departments. The product is grown on land using fresh seawater directly from the Oregon Coast. The farmed dulse seaweed can be used raw in soups, salads or smoothies. It can also be baked into chips, or even sauteed to...