Crab Fishermen Face Devastating Regulations

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission has extended Dungeness crab fishing rules to reduce whale entanglements, but commercial fishermen say the regulations will put them out of business.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) told the commission that the restrictions, begun in 2020 and set to end this year, appear to have reduced entanglements.

The commission, which oversees the ODFW, originally ordered the rules with a three-year sunset provision to evaluate their effectiveness.

Crab fishermen who testified at the commission’s Aug. 4 meeting said the rules would harm them, their families, and Oregon’s economy.

“Crab fishermen don’t want to entangle whales; they just want to make a living,” said a fisherman who described himself as a 46-year veteran of the industry.

Most of the crab fishermen who testified told the commission they had been fishing since childhood. They described a small, tight-knit community of professionals who made a large impact on Oregon’s economy. One fisherman said that if the entire Oregon crab fleet were to put out traps simultaneously, they would only occupy 0.0005 percent of the available fishing grounds.

He said that rather than having rules imposed on them, crab fishermen should be a more integral part of the process as they are true experts regarding the sea. (Excerpt from The Epoch Times.)