Dungeness crab trap

• About Oregon crabbing / FAQs
• Where and when to crab
• How to crab by boat or from the dock
• Shellfishing regulations
• Crab identification
• Crab life history
• Crab behavior
• Crab research
• Crabbing reports
• Research results

Reports

ODFW creel monitoring for recreational crab harvest takes place in Columbia, Tillamook, Netarts, Siletz, Yaquina, Alsea, Winchester, Coos Bay, and Bandon.

June is a transition month for crabbing in Oregon. The males have been molting so there are much higher numbers of legal-sized crab available. The downside is that recently-molted male crabs are not as filled out as they will be in late summer and fall.

The unit of “Crabs per person" reflects the average number of legal size Dungeness crab caught for each recreational fisher for their crabbing trip, as reported by interview’s conducted by creel surveyors.

Publications

• Ainsworth, J. C., M. Vance, M. V. Hunter, and E. Schindler. 2012. The Oregon Recreational Dungeness Crab Fishery, 2007-2011.Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Information Report 2012-04, Marine Resources Program, Newport, OR.

• Ainsworth, Justin & M. Vance. 2009. Recreational Shellfish Catch and Effort Surveys in Oregon Estuaries (pdf). Newport, OR: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. PERS Conference poster.

• Vance, Mitch & J. Ainsworth. 2009. Estuarine Crab Resource Monitoring and Assessment Project (pdf). Newport, OR: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. PERS Conference poster.