Oregon hasactually extended guidelines restricting the number of crab traps in the water and how deep they can drop in the late-season months when humpback whales are more mostlikely to swim there
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon hasactually extended guidelines restricting the state’s profitable Dungeness crab fishery in order to safeguard humpback whales from endingupbeing knotted in ropes connected to crab traps, the state’s fish and wildlife department hasactually revealed.
Humpbacks, which move off Oregon’s coast, and other whales can get captured in the vertical ropes linked to the heavy traps and drag them around for months, leaving the mammals hurt, starved or so tired that they can drown. Oregon’s Dungeness crab fishery is one of the foundations of the Pacific Northwest’s fishing market, however crabbers worry that overregulation will damage the market.