60 days on, Oregon’s Dungeness crab season is bringing top dollar to crabbers amid low inventories at sea.

Back-to-back mid-December openings in the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 seasons have  bequeathed Oregon early bird prices. 

In both seasons, the state’s fishermen enjoyed a week or two before California and Washington belatedly opened their seasons in January. 

But not so live hauls. By mid-February 2025, landings in Oregon were down by 3 1/2 million pounds from the 17 million pounds of the corresponding 2024 run.

To the rescue is boatmen’s revenue, which at $83 million so far, is $20 million above that of the 2023-24 opener.

It is all to do with landing prices that spiked from $5 a pound in December 2024 to $7.50 by mid-February 2025. 

This far, the landing price is about 50% more than the average of $3.73 a pound of the entire 2023-24 season. 

If stocks remain as low as they are now, the 2024-25 median might stay as elevated as currently, analysts argue. 

For the consumer this converts to at least $15.99 a pound, using the data of the local Fisherman’s Market.  Cheaper wholesalers at the South Beach Market in their part are offering live crab at $10.50 to the pound.

Similar Straits in Nearby States

Oregon’s current landing prices have even outstripped the January 2025 opening price of $5.75 a pound in nearby Washington. 

Washington’s sea conditions in January saw commercial crabbers cope with towering currents, contributing to poor hauls.

Meanwhile, California’s protection of endangered whales likewise delayed its Dungeness crab season, exacerbating the stock tightness on the West Coast. 

All three Pacific states limit the minimum catch size for male crabs at 5 3/4 inches long and 6 inches in some areas. 

Compounding this size limitation is the looming end to the peak months just three months into the season. 

It is therefore arguable that Dungeness crabbing in Oregon has slowed in its second month although strong prices are keeping business afloat.  But as the statistics below show, the slowdown is still a blessing in terms of gross earnings for crabbers.

Oregon Dungeness Crab Statistics 

Dungeness crabs in Oregon inhabit shallow estuaries with a depth less than 1500 feet, according to the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife. They are arguably the most lucrative fishery in the western state. Fishermen’s revenue (harvest value) is usually worth $93 million, as of 2024, up from $85.5 million in 2023. However, all aggregate value chain revenue from the state’s Dungeness fishery amounts to $231.8 million, as of 2021. This value is separate from the $195.3 million that comes from coastal parts of the state per year. The sector furthermore creates 3,534 jobs at the coast and 3,319 jobs in other parts of the state annually, as of 2021.

How have Dungeness crab landings in Oregon  performed in the 2016-2024 period? 

Between 2016 and 2022, Oregon’s Dungeness crabs fluctuated in landing volumes in a seesaw pattern. While the 2017-18 season brought 23,091,880 pounds, the 2018-19 one managed only 18,670,454 pounds. The same seesaw would reprise in the 2019-20 season at 19,980,932 pounds vis-á-vis 2020-21’s 12,191,313 pounds. The harvest would recover in the 2021-22 season at 17,158,254 pounds. According to Yachats News, the 2023-24 season brought 24,692,837 pounds in dungeness crab harvest. This was a slump from the record 31,579,303 pounds of the 2022-23 season.

How has the landing price changed in Oregon from 2017 to 2025? 

While 2017 averaged $3.22 per pound, 2018 brought $3.57 to Oregon’s Dungeness crab fishermen. This is even as prices in 2019, 2020 and 2021 increased to $3.55, $4.81 and $5.33 a pound, respectively. Then 2022 experienced a sharp fall to $2.69 before a recovery came in the 2023-24 season at $3.79. The 2025 season began with $5 per pound, but this could change as the year’s average shapes up, later on.