NEWPORT — Make no mistake, Santa Claus doesn’t wear red with white trim. At the Oregon coast, he arrives in rain-slicked Grundees with 600 horses straining to pull his load against a nasty Sou’wester.

Crab fishermen are the real Santas of the coast economy, bringing in nearly $100 million a year in cash at five Oregon ports, with Newport the leading destination for record-setting landings. Dungeness crab is consistently Oregon’s most valuable single-species commercial fishery.

Arriving at Christmastime, more or less, every year, commercial crab season infuses the coast economy at its lowest economic moment. This year it opened on Dec. 16, in port towns nearly devoid of tourists and breathing off pensions and government checks.

“Oregon’s crab fishery is an economic driver for coastal communities,” says Justin Ainsworth, in charge of marine resources at the Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife. “It’s the most valuable fishery in Oregon, generating over $90 million in direct payments to fishermen. That translates into our local economy by a factor of two or three into more jobs in processing, cooking, cleaning, support, supplies, repairs, groceries, fuel, restaurants, retail, everything. It supports the whole economy.”

Ainsworth’s agency tracks landing receipts and fish tickets for each of the 321 active permits in Oregon, representing vessels ranging in size from 20-ft. dory boats to 100-foot ships. He described the commercial season as “front-loaded,” saying most of the crab are decked in the first two months of an 8-month season.

“Fishermen could care less about rain — it’s the wind and swells that dictate to us what we’re going to do,” remarked fisherman John Corbin, a veteran commercial crab fisherman based in Warrenton, Ore. “The amount of weather any fisherman can take is dependent on the amount of crab coming up in the pot, and we’ll put up with a lot at the beginning of the season. As the season drops off, though, 35-35 knot winds become unbearable.”

Newport remained the state’s leading port for crab landings during the latest record-setting year, docking 5.4 million pounds of Dungeness crab in 2024-25. Other top ports included Astoria, 4.4 million lbs.; Charleston, 2.5 million lbs.; and Brookings, 1.1 million lbs.

Over the last 20 years, Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab industry averaged an annual value of $49.7 million. Driven by growing domestic and Far East markets, however, boat payments have risen to record levels. The most recent season, 2024-25, set the all-time record, paying out $97.1 million to fishermen despite a “mediocre” harvest of 15.7 million pounds (the 20-year average is 18.4 million lbs./yr.). High dockside prices averaged $6.19 per pound, driving the windfall.

Oregon’s commercial fishing industry (led by crab) generated over $600 million in annual personal income for the state last year, supporting roughly 9,200 jobs. It turns out Santa Clause is real, after all:

Annual Breakdown of Key Recent Years:
2024-2025: $97.1 million, record high value; high prices offset lower volume.
2023-2024: $96.1 million, second highest revenue on record.
2022-2023: $85 million, high volume (31.6M lbs.) but low average price ($2.69/lb).
2021-2022: $91.5 million, previous non-inflation-adjusted record.
2017-2018: $74.2 million, a major record-setting year prior to the recent surge.