Canadian Crab Thieves

[CP]

http://www.facebook.com/WDFWPolice
The U.S./Canadian Border is well-marked along Boundary Bay, a waterway popular for commercial and recreational crab fishing near the town of Blaine, WA. While the commercial season for metacarcinus magister (Dungeness crab) is only open on
the north side this time of year, that doesn’t stop foreign fishing vessels from poaching thousands of pounds of Dungeness crab south of the border. But these thieves must first get past Fish and Wildlife Officers assigned to the North Sound Marine Detachment...

Such was the case last Tuesday when Officers Gaston, Downes, and Rosenberger searched for unmarked, closed season "ground-lines" in WDFW Patrol Vessel #1. A strategy commonly used to avoid detection by Fish and Wildlife Police, a ground-line is multiple crab pots attached to a common line without surface buoys. Ground-lines are illegal by Washington State law, which requires that each crab pot be attached to its own marked and registered buoy. I can just hear the bad guys saying, “Buoys? We don’t need no stinkin' buoys!” And they don’t -- at least when it comes to successfully locating their gear again. With today’s technology, poachers can find their gear later by returning to coordinates recorded by a Global Positioning Device (GPS) and then deploying a grappling hook. So, Fish and Wildlife Officers have to use the same techniques as poachers to find illegal gear -- drag for it, but without the advantage of GPS coordinates. Although flying blind, these Fish Cops are pretty darn successful. Or maybe the problem is just that bad. Either way, within 30 seconds of dropping a grappling hook down, Officers hooked their first ground-line of the patrol. As they pulled in the 10-pot string, they observed that another unmarked ground-line had been laying on top of that one. And yet a third unmarked ground-line was located and pulled before the Officers ran out of deck space and sunlight. A total of 50 high-end commercial crab pots were seized. No buoys or any type of identification was observed on the gear, also a violation, but typical of the clandestine nature of this activity.

Not all patrols are reactive, however. A few days later, Officers Gaston and Rosenberger decided to follow the border along the Strait of Georgia up to the Apex and approach Pt. Roberts from the west. As the Officers neared the Apex, they observed a large buoy with Canadian commercial crab markings on it well inside U.S. Waters. The Officers continued a half-mile north and observed a Canadian commercial crab vessel actively pulling a ground-line of crab pots in 400 ft. of water. The Officers boarded the vessel and informed the crew that they were within U.S. Waters. Officer Gaston remained onboard the vessel as it continued to pull the 40+ pots on the ground-line. Officer Rosenberger followed in the patrol vessel, marking each pot's location on a GPS plotter. When the commercial vessel finished pulling all its gear, the Officers told the Skipper they were seizing all his crab from that set. The Skipper began to argue that he had set his gear on the Canadian side of the line, and that the tide had pushed his vessel into U.S. Waters as he was pulling the gear. However, Officer Rosenberger pointed out that they were dead in the water and drifting toward Canada at .5 knots. Therefore, the Officers believed that when the vessel first began to pull the gear, they were further inside U.S. Waters than when they made contact. The Skipper will be cited with several commercial crabbing violations, including no limited entry commercial license and closed season possession of crab.

After dealing with the Canadian crabbers, the Officers continued on to Pt. Roberts where they observed several buoys and fenders in the water that looked like Canadian recreational crab gear illegally set across the border within the U.S. The Officers pulled up to a small white boat fender and began to pull up the line. They soon realized that this was attached to a ground-line that stretched south into the U.S. Further investigation of more of the buoys revealed more ground-lines within U.S. Waters. The Officers phoned Sgt. Mullins and Officer Downes, who arrived just before dark in a larger patrol vessel to pull the offending gear. While waiting for the larger patrol vessel Officers Rosenberger and Gaston tested their endurance (these guys are young) and pulled a ten pot ground-line by hand. In total, the Officers seized 73 high-end commercial crab pots that were illegally fishing within U.S. Waters. They offloaded the pots from the patrol vessel to a car trailer by hand at a dock at Point Roberts.

Kudos to our North Sound Marine Detachment! Way to go, guys!!

[washelkhunter]

Well done!

[Woodchuck]

I am glad they caught them but why didn't they take pics of the crab and dump em back?

[Kola16]

That's good. If they were smart, they would sell the crabpots, and make money off of them 

[6x6in6]

Good work gentlemen!! 

[jaymark6655]

Stories like this make me want to permanately shut the borders to all for a year or two.

[wildweeds]

This type of poaching has been going on for over 30 years,it's nothing new.My dad had a commercial crab boat in the early 80's,hundreds and hundreds of pots were confiscated along the line during those years with the ghost fishing groundline method.We knew the enforcement officer at that time and got the firsthand scoop.As he patrolled the docks and commercial fishermen on the right side fof the line too.Not profiling or nothing but I'd bet that the perpetrator was Asian.In the 80's every person they busted was asian.A few of them were repeat offenders not too many weeks later............... apparantly the juice is WORTH the squeeze.

[jackmaster]

a man has to keep an eye out for the auction they will be having, might be able to pick up a sring of pot for pretty cheap...... keep it up boys, i hope all the crab got turned back, sounds like they could have been putting a hell of a dent in our dungee numbers....

[notellumcreek]

We have had a family cabin in Pt Roberts since the 70's. I was crabbing up there this last weekend and saw the commercial guys out there just on the other side of the border. We were still slaying the crab, but those SOB canadians trying to take advantage of the true NW corner of the state. I am glad I have seen fish and game up there everyday we were out checking every boat. They are doing great work.

[notellumcreek]

This type of poaching has been going on for over 30 years,it's nothing new.My dad had a commercial crab boat in the early 80's,hundreds and hundreds of pots were confiscated along the line during those years with the ghost fishing groundline method.We knew the enforcement officer at that time and got the firsthand scoop.As he patrolled the docks and commercial fishermen on the right side fof the line too.Not profiling or nothing but I'd bet that the perpetrator was Asian.In the 80's every person they busted was asian.A few of them were repeat offenders not too many weeks later............... apparantly the juice is WORTH the squeeze.

  you are correct sir, not to be calling anyone out but we were glassing them and yes they were asian.

[oldcamper]

Take the pots and sell them, keep the money for the force that makes the find. Better equipment for em or even a better christmas party, I wouldn't care.

[wildweeds]

They do not sell them,I live down the road from where they are stored........................... they get loaded up and hauled to the recyclers,wait and watch to make sure they are destroyed(guy at works kid works at the scrapyard they go to).................. more agency waste at work.I agree they should be auctioned and the funds from doing so................. go directly to the saltwater portion of the game departments checkbook.

Take the pots and sell them, keep the money for the force that makes the find. Better equipment for em or even a better christmas party, I wouldn't care.

[h2ofowlr]

I wish they would auction those pots off.  There is a monster pile of ceased ones at the WDFW at lake Terrawl in Ferndale.

[pianoman9701]

We should invade Canada, eh?
Canadian bacon

[magnanimous_j]

Am I wrong to think that "Canadian Crab Thieves" would be a great name for an indie rock band?