Northwest Zone
Where to crab in Oregon
Love the taste of crab and want to try harvesting your own? Already at the beach and looking for a family-friendly activity?
Here are some opportunities to find your favorite seafood and have a fun day on the coast.
In every Oregon estuary, some crab can be found. Coos, Yaquina, and Tillamook normally provide the best year-round opportunities. Smaller estuaries and those with more freshwater influence may be good during the late summer through the early winter.
Before heading out, be sure to have your shellfish license, a copy of the regulations (either paper or online), and check the tides.
Go to our How to crab article to learn about different crabbing equipment and techniques.
Species availability by area
- Columbia River: Dungeness
- Necanicum: Dungeness
- Nehalem Bay: Dungeness
- Tillamook: Dungeness, Red rock
- Netarts Bay: Dungeness, Red rock
- Nestucca Bay: Dungeness
- Siletz Bay: Dungeness
- Yaquina Bay: Dungeness, Red rock
- Alsea Bay: Dungeness
- Siuslaw River: Dungeness
- Umpqua River: Dungeness
- Coos Bay: Dungeness, Red rock
- Coquille River: Dungeness
- South Coast:
- Port Orford: Dock crabbing can be found year round from the Port docks - Ocean (boat) crabbing areas are easily accessible.
- Gold Beach: (Rogue River) and Brookings (Chetco River) - Crabbing in these estuaries may only be successful in the driest parts of the summer when the freshwater influence is minimal. Ocean (boat) crabbing areas are easily accessible.
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Buying a license or permit
Buy licenses/tags online and print them immediately from any printer—or choose electronic tagging to carry your documents and tag fish...
Check out the current Recreation Report
Current conditions and opportunities to crab and clam. Updated weekly by shellfish biologists.