January 2, 2020 3:20 a.m.
Effective with the start of the new year, crabbers are reminded that all surface buoys used with recreational crab pots or rings must be marked to identify the owner of the gear.
A release from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said the identifying information should include first and last name or business name, and at least one of the following:
*permanent address
*phone number
*ODFW ID number
*vessel identification number
The identifying information needs to be visible, legible and permanent. The new rule does not apply to crabbing gear used from piers, jetties or beaches. Tags are not an accessible substitute for marking buoys, according to the release.
Buoy marking will help crabbers recover lost gear and help ODFW identify which fisheries experience lost gear. The Fish and Wildlife Commission approved the new rule in September as part of a larger rule package that included additional gear requirements for commercial crab and other fisheries. Until now, Oregon was the only state on the west coast that did not have a rule requiring recreational crabbers to mark their buoys.
Currently, crabbing is open along the entire Oregon coast and winter can be a popular time to crab. Recreational crabbers need an up to date shellfish license to crab.
Crabbers are asked to call the Oregon Department of Agriculture Shellfish Hotline at 800-448-2474 to check for closures before crabbing.