Beginning April 1, crab fishers must comply with late-season whale entanglement risk reduction measures, including a 20% reduction in pot limits, a 40-fathom depth restriction and the mandatory use of secondary buoy tags. The changes follow a petition conservation groups filed Dec. 11 asking the state to adopt measures to reduce whale and sea turtle entanglements in Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab fishery after a record number of humpback whales were caught in Oregon Dungeness crab fishing gear in 2024 and 2025. Other whale entanglements in Oregon commercial Dungeness crab fishing gear have been reported off Baja California, Mexico and Moss Landing, California — meaning whales traveled hundreds of miles dragging fishing gear. Ben Grundy, an oceans campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the state of Oregon is doing the right thing by taking more precautions with crab fishing gear. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife asks the public to report whale sightings using the WhaleAlert app and sharing the locations of unusually high whale or sea turtle activity with the department and with other fishers.