Fishery managers have made the decision to delay the opening of the 2024-25 Washington coastal Dungeness crab fishery from Cape Falcon, Oregon to the U.S./Canada border through at least Dec. 30.

This decision was based on crab condition tests conducted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife that do not currently meet the minimum meat recovery criteria.

Coastal Dungeness crab Tri-State policy representatives from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife also agreed to open the commercial Dungeness crab season south of Cape Falcon, Oregon to the Oregon/California border on Dec. 16.

Tri-State Dungeness Crab Pre-Season Testing Protocols specify that after the second round of testing, if any area does not meet the minimum meat recovery criteria (23% north of Cascade Head and 24% south of Cascade Head) a delay is required, and additional testing is conducted before a season opening date can be confirmed.

The stations in the Westport and Long Beach test areas were completed on Dec. 2. The results for Westport meat recovery were 21.9%; for Long Beach is was 19.9%.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will provide additional information regarding the season opening as soon as possible following the completion of the upcoming tests to be completed by Dec. 22.

Coastal Dungeness crab Tri-State is in the process of assessing marine life entanglement risk for the commercial Dungeness crab fishery using the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program and monitoring domoic acid levels within multiple areas.

In the area from Point Arena, California to the U.S./Canada border, if any vessel fishes in an area that opens before another area, the vessel is subject to fair start provisions. Fair start provisions require that vessels beginning their season in an area that opens earlier than others will be prohibited from fishing in a delayed area for at least 30 days after the delayed area opens.