ODFW Newsroom

SALEM, Ore. – The Oregon Conservation and Recreation Fund (OCRF) Advisory Committee is excited to announce that its next grant cycle will begin accepting applications on Monday, Dec. 15, with the application window open through Feb. 9, 2026. Visit the Online Application System and enter access code…

Newport, Ore. – Oregon's commercial Dungeness crab season opens Dec. 16 from Cape Falcon to the California border, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today. Crab will be available in time for the holiday season. Oregon will open the north coast to align with Washington once Long…

SALEM, Ore.—The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet Thursday and Friday, Dec. 11-12 to set 2026 groundfish regulations and hear an informational briefing on the barbless hook requirement for Columbia River recreational fisheries. Both a Dec. 11 workshop and Dec. 12 meeting will be in a…

SALEM, Ore. – A Chinese mitten crab, a prohibited species in Oregon, was found in the Willamette River near the Sellwood Bridge and reported to ODFW on Nov. 17. The crab was spotted in shallow water and captured by hand. It was alive and not released back into the river. Mitten crab is a non-native…

ODFW's Oregon Conservation and Recreation Advisory Committee meets Dec. 2 SALEM, Ore. – The Oregon Conservation and Recreation Advisory Committee will meet on Tuesday, Dec. 2, from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Conservation and Recreation Advisory Committee will be reviewing application questions ahead of…

CORVALLIS, Ore. — The Oregon Hatchery Research Center Board will meet in Corvallis on Tuesday, December 2 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife South Willamette Watershed District Office (7118 NE Vandenberg Avenue, Corvallis, OR 97330). In addition to the…

Note: Recreational ocean crabbing is closed through Nov 30. SALEM, Ore.- Get outdoors with friends and family and enjoy free fishing, crabbing and clamming on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28 and 29. Statewide free fishing days are a great chance to take someone new fishing and celebrate Oregon's…

Newport, Ore. – Oregon's commercial Dungeness crab season is delayed coastwide until at least Dec. 16, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today. Oregon Dungeness crab met both meat and safe biotoxin level requirements; however, the season is delayed as Long Beach, WA crabs have not…

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Recreation access sites within the restored Klamath River reach between Keno, Ore., and Hornbrook, Calif., will remain open as winter conditions allow. The five recreation day-use access sites now open until further notice are as follows: Pioneer Park West (Ore.) Moonshine…

SALEM, Ore – Mussel harvesting is now closed from Cape Blanco to the California border the Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today. Recent mussel samples indicate levels of Paralytic Shellfish Toxin – a naturally occurring marine biotoxin that…

NEWPORT, Ore. – The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is helping investigate the entanglement of a young humpback whale stranded earlier this week near Yachats. The whale was entangled in gear attributed by NOAA Fisheries to the Oregon commercial Dungeness crab fishery. Veterinarians from the…

SALEM, Ore. – ODFW's PFA Grant Program began accepting applications on Nov. 14. The grant program is set to offer another $10 million to support innovative projects that drive real change. Applicants can find the PFA Grant Program's Grant Guidelines here and the streamlined application by logging…

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – ODFW is urging waterfowl hunters and other visitors to use extreme caution after laboratory results revealed exceptionally high levels of microcystin in a water sample collected from the Barnes Unit of the Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. The sample was taken from an…

CLACKAMAS, Ore. – Sturgeon retention will not open in Bonneville and The Dalles pools on the traditional date of Jan 1. following a joint state hearing held by Oregon and Washington fishery managers today. However, the retention fishery in the John Day pool, where harvest rates have been stable and…

Updated statement Friday, Nov. 7, 2025 SALEM, Ore. – A coyote was captured and humanely killed on Oct. 31 and confirmed to be the individual animal that bit a 9-year-old child in the Alameda neighborhood on Oct. 23. ODFW worked with partners at the city, state, and federal levels to capture the…

NEWPORT, Ore – Mussel harvesting is now open coastwide from the Washington border to the California border the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today. Marine biotoxin levels tested below the alert level. People should always call the Shellfish…

PENDLETON, Ore. – From Oct. 18 through Nov. 30, 2025, the adult daily salmon and steelhead bag limit on the Umatilla River from the Hwy 730 bridge upstream to Threemile Dam is three fish total, but retention of Chinook will be closed. The closure of Chinook retention is necessary due to low fall…

SALEM, Ore. – The Private Forest Accord (PFA) Advisory Committee will hold its regular virtual meeting on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff will present two new funding pathways for the PFA Grants Program, Land Transactions and Water Transactions, followed by…

Image: The circles show monitoring stations in the basin and the green shows detection of a tagged salmon. KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Salmon are making exciting progress in their return to the upper Klamath Basin, with fisheries biologists from ODFW and The Klamath Tribes celebrating a series of firsts…