• Reducing risk of marine life entanglements in crab gear
• Commercial crab traceability (crab harvest areas)
• About the Dungeness crab fishery
• About a Dungeness crab
• Crab season opening weekly updates
• Commercial crab landings
• Post-season derelict gear recovery program
• News and publications
• Crab domoic acid rules advisory committee information
• Crab identification
• Commercial Synopsis (pdf)
• Commercial shellfish OARs (48 pages pdf)

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Crab domoic acid 2017 rules advisory committee information

Purpose and goals of the ODA and ODFW rules advisory committee

Dungeness crab harvest is an economic and cultural centerpiece in Oregon, a keystone for Oregon’s popular seafood brand. Reliable and sustainable harvest is essential to maximizing the value of harvested crab to Oregon, and safe seafood management practices are essential for protecting the health of Oregonians. This rules advisory committee will help shape Oregon Administrative Rules (OARs) for the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) and ODFW to describe the management use of evisceration orders and harvest area closures, to address harmful algal bloom biotoxin detection in crab viscera, and to maximize both the protection of human health and the sustainable harvest during these events.

Goals: Advise the agencies over 2-3 meetings on rules and process describing under what conditions evisceration may be used for crab harvest and how to implement closures, when necessary. Conditions must maximize traceability of the live market to minimize risk of public exposure to biotoxins. This includes improving traceability for the purposes of communication with non-Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan required crab buyers and for the purposes of inventory evaluation for HACCP processors.

Rules advisory industry committee members

Committee member responsibilities include:

• Participate in up to three, four-hour meetings on the Oregon Coast during the summer of 2017.

• Remain in close communication with the industry sectors and geographic areas that they represent.

• Convey the feedback from their communities to the advisory committee, ODA and ODFW.

Meeting documents

Meeting 1 – June 20, 2017

• Meeting agenda (pdf)
• DRAFT proposed ODA rules (pdf)

Meeting 2 – July 20, 2017

• Meeting 1 – June 20, 2017 notes (pdf)
• Meeting agenda (pdf)
• DRAFT proposed ODA rules – 7/13/17 (pdf)
• DRAFT biotoxin management area options (pdf)

Meeting 3 – August 15, 2017 (if needed)

• Meeting 2 – July 20, 2017 notes (pdf)
• Meeting agenda (pdf)
• DRAFT tools table (pdf)
• DRAFT proposed ODA rules – 8/8/17 (pdf)
• DRAFT crab harvest area options (pdf)
• DRAFT proposed ODFW crab records rule (pdf)
• Meeting 3 – August 15, 2017 notes (pdf)
• FINAL RAC recommendation summary (pdf)

Public hearing information – Sept 26, 2017

• Hearing notice and request for comments (pdf)
• DRAFT ODA rule (pdf)
• RAC recommended crab harvest area map (pdf)
• Proposed ODFW crab records requirement (pdf)

Outcomes to-date

• ODFW new records requirement industry notice (pdf)
• Crab harvest area map (pdf)
• ODA new crab biotoxin administrative rules notice to industry (pdf)
• ODFW 2017 crab newsletter (see page 4) (pdf)
• New legislation to clarify ODFW traceability authorities and provide ODA access to crab traceability records
• ODFW permanent rule-making notice to industry regarding new records requirements (pdf)
• Permanent crab record-keeping requirements – ODFW Industry Notice May 11, 2018 (pdf)

Additional information

• ODA Food Safety Division shellfish biotoxin results (pdf)

• ODFW HABS and biotoxin information

• Pre-season testing protocol for the tri-state coastal Dungeness crab commercial fishery (pdf)

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