National Fisherman

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West Coast & Pacific

After more than 80 years, Columbia River Chinook and sockeye salmon have regained access to 1,000 miles of spawning habitat above the Grand Coulee and Chie Joseph Dams in Washington. Upper Columbia Tribes in the US and Canada welcome their return. Photo c

A homecoming for Upper Columbia River salmon

Paul Molyneaux

A fishing vessel hauls in catch offshore California, USA. Photo by Elliott Hazen, courtesy of Heather Welch, UCSC.

VMI data used to study marine heatwaves may also monitor ecosystem health

Margaret Bauman

One of the Port Orford’s two new 50-ton cranes lifts a boat out of the water. Commissioned on November 30, just in time for the December 16 Dungeness crab opening. The new cranes saw a few days of 24-hour-a-day service as the boat got their traps out. Pho

Harborless Port Orford gets new cranes to lift boats onto its “Dolly Dock”

Paul Molyneaux

F/V Texas Lady ran aground. Photo courtesy of Robert Anderson / Oregon Coastal Crabbing & Shellfish Facebook page

All souls saved after F/V Texas Lady washed ashore near Port Orford

Carli Clancy

Dungeness crabs caught off California. California Department of Fish and Wildlife photo.

Calif. Dungeness crab fishery opens in parts of the North Coast

NF Staff

Capt. Rene Hernández’s son, Rene Jr., talks fishing with four-year-old Juan Pablo Molyneaux. The Hernándezes also started at the same age, as do so many kids in the fish business, learning a way of life as much as a way to make a living. Paul Molyneaux photo.

Getting the next generation to sea

Paul Molyneaux

File photo of a U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Bradley Pigage.

Nine rescued from crab boat grounded in Pribilof Islands

Margaret Bauman

Crab traps loaded aboard a fishing boat in Eureka, CA, in preparation for the Dungeness crab season. Photo by Shutterstock

San Francisco Dungeness crab season stalls again

Carli Clancy

Juvenile salmon experienced a mix of favorable and challenging ocean conditions off the West Coast in 2025. NOAA Fisheries photo.

Mixed signals suggest moderate Pacific salmon returns

NF Staff

Rock crab. Photo by Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust

California warns against eating rock crab viscera along the Northern coast

NF Staff

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Petition urges more protections for whales in Dungeness crab fisheries

Margaret Bauman