Abstract
Oregon’s fishing community is concerned about the potential effects that wave energy conversion devices could have on Dungeness crab movement, behavior and harvests. Though crabbing has been a mainstay of West Coast economies for decades, little information has been collected or analyzed on adult Dungeness crab movement, in general, and for the Oregon Coast, specifically. To help begin addressing this critical information gap, The Oregon Wave Energy Trust (OWET), the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission (ODCC) and Oregon Sea Grant added value to a planned baseline study conducted by H.T. Harvey and Associates. Crabs collected for the baseline study were tagged after they were measured and before they were returned to the ocean. Commercial crabbers later returned the tags, and were rewarded for collaborating in the project.