April 11, 2025 — State regulators in Washington have approved a new line marking rule for traps used in the state’s Dungeness crab fishery in the hopes of reducing the risk vertical lines pose to whales.
“These proposed regulations are instrumental in advancing conservation efforts around whale entanglements,” Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Coastal Marine Fisheries Whale Entanglement Coordinator Megan Hintz said in February, when the changes were first proposed.