Crab thief Busted

[jaymark6655]

Well that explains what happened to my wife's shrimp pots.  We put 4 down in a line, her two in the middle of the line disappeared.  Never went out again.

[PolarBear]

The best way that I have found to leave them for extended periods of time is to weight and bait the crap out of them, set them at an extreme low tide with short lines (just long enough to hit the surface on the next low tide) and let the tide bury them deep and far away from those with sticky fingers.

[Alchase]

We quit crabbing the Nisqually delta because our pots were being raided by a couple known thieves that happen to be from the tribe. When the WDFW was taking complaints at the boat ramp, he basically told everyone there was nothing he could do because they are "self policing" and the thieves know this, I kid you not.

[lokidog]

G

Am I the only one who's a little annoyed by this?

So you're (the WDFW) saying that you are badly understaffed and know that there are a lot of wildlife-related crimes occurring, and your response is to send not just one but two of your officers to stare at a guy in a dinghy for several hours, and you are proud of your one arrest?!?!!

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they caught the poacher.  However, couldn't you send just one officer out in one of those nice, fast, taxpayer funded boats of yours to deal with the guy as soon as you saw him pull and poach the first pot?  At that point, every single charge and consequence they mentioned would have still been applicable.  Arrest him, take his boat, give him a ticket or whatever else you guys do and then get on with catching the next guy!!!!!  Oh, and in the meantime, since you only sent one officer, maybe the other officer would be available to enforce another law and catch another poacher...     I know, radical thinking isn't it?! 

Small wonder our wildlife isn't being managed effectively with this kind of thinking in place.  Imagine any other enforcement agency operating like this...
  "Yes, I saw the drunk driver speeding down I-5, so my partner and I watched him from our patrol car for several hours to see if he would also not come to a complete stop or forget to signal while changing lanes.  Then, after watching him speed and swerve drunkenly from Chehalis to Mt. Vernon, we pulled him over and arrested him for DUI.  Aren't you proud of us?!!!"

Good point!

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[B Mo]

While I'm glad they caught the crab thief, I question what they were looking to enforce out there assuming ling cod had closed and crab/salmon had yet to open.  The Tulalips pay no taxes, purchase no license and rape the dungeness resource in MA 8-1, 8-2 and 9.  Let them enforce upon their own set gear. Lets hope our WDFW keep the same focus and dedication that they spent on the set Tulalip pots on the recreational crab pots now that our season has started.

[singleshot12]

While I'm glad they caught the crab thief, I question what they were looking to enforce out there assuming ling cod had closed and crab/salmon had yet to open.  The Tulalips pay no taxes, purchase no license and rape the dungeness resource in MA 8-1, 8-2 and 9.  Let them enforce upon their own set gear. Lets hope our WDFW keep the same focus and dedication that they spent on the set Tulalip pots on the recreational crab pots now that our season has started.

[trophyelk6x6]

done leaving pots out, had several poached.  Hate to not re-set for the next day but no chance anymore.

[SCRUBS]

Glad to read they (WDFW) are looking out for the tribes...

[wildweeds]

Lot's of people claim their pots get stolen,fact of the matter is,if you have to short or long of line the angle of the tow will slide the pots along the bottom or the bouy will float them up and the current will take them away.I've had strings of pots move 1/4 mile overnight in big tides with heavy weather and all be loaded with crab.Some get stolen no doubt about it.Many just drift off.Where I crab big tankers and barges come in,the barges have big drag chains to help slow them down,well if your dumb enough to set your gear in the shipping lane,the gear gets hung in the chains and drug,the barges where I work at frequently have gear on the chains,then the gear just bobs out front of the dock for days and days on end.The spill boom crew pulls them and moves them inshore and throws them out,generally what happens is the lines end up with an inch of slime on them and the derelict gear pulls them and sends them to the impound yard at the local game range.

[PolarBear]

I learned long time ago in Alaska to weight my pots.  I lost 6 shrimp pots that were sitting in 360-380 feet of water and all had at least 440 feet of line out.  I found them 7 miles away in another inlet.  Most of the pots that are "stolen" off the Nisqually actually get swept off of the shelf and are sitting in 300 feet of water.  I have a friend who lets the tide drag a grapnel hook on a diver bag along the shelf at Nisqually and he hooks a lot of those lost pots.  If there is still a buoy or identifying marks he will return them to its owner.  I weight all my pots at 25-35 pounds and have plenty of extra line.  Sure they are a little harder to yard up by hand, especially in 200+ feet of water, but I don't have to worry about losing them to drift.

[singleshot12]

People are getting desperate,bold, and or hungry .. Had both my pots stored under my skiff and noticed someone has been using them at night. Took the pots home and came back a couple days later and my boat was gone Theives are one of the lowest life forms there are   Reported it but what good does it do Atleast the officer got a good chuckle out of my story.