Oregon Fishery Managers Accelerate Plan to Reduce Whale Entanglements in State Dungeness Crab Fishery
Oceana applauds steps in the right direction and calls for further action
Press Release Date: January 29, 2026
Location: Salem, OR
Contact:
Erin Vande Ven | email: EVandeVen@oceana.org | tel: 303.829.3877
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced last week that starting April 1, one month earlier than past seasons, the state’s Dungeness crab fishery will be required to use 20% fewer crab pots and set depth restrictions for the fishery in an effort to protect whales.
Those conservation measures are usually implemented on May 1, but fishery managers chose to move the start date up this year as whale entanglements in crab fishing gear are on the rise and threatened and endangered humpback whales are known to be off the Oregon coast in April.
Four humpback whales were entangled in Oregon Dungeness crab fishing gear in 2025, including a juvenile that washed up on shore and was eventually euthanized after rescue efforts failed. Another one of the whales entangled in Oregon fishing gear was spotted near Baja California, Mexico, meaning it swam hundreds of miles with this gear wrapped around its body, impeding its ability to swim and feed. According to NOAA, 75% of whale entanglements are ultimately fatal.
A recent petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the American Cetacean Society urges the state to reduce fishing gear when whales are known to be feeding and migrating off Oregon and create a framework to authorize pop-up fishing gear, which eliminates the seafloor to surface buoy lines that are the cause of the entanglements.
“Oceana commends Oregon fishery managers for taking this step to reduce whale entanglements, but more needs to be done,” said Oceana Senior Scientist Ben Enticknap. “Entanglements are one of the biggest threats to whales and they will only continue until further steps are taken to reduce the number of lines and buoys in the water when whales are feeding and migrating off our shores.
Thankfully, there are solutions like pop-up fishing gear that keep lines and buoys on the seafloor until retrieved by the fishers, thus reducing the risk of entanglement. Pop-up gear used in the spring and summer months can help protect whales while keeping fishers on the water.”
Pop-up gear is comprised of strings of multiple crab traps that remain on the seafloor with the associated lines and buoys until a signal from the fishing vessel releases them to the surface for retrieval, preventing entanglements of whales and other wildlife. The gear has been successfully tested in California in recent years with a 98% reliability rate.
The ODFW will vote on the whale entanglement petition during a hearing on Friday, February 20.


