Tanner or "Snow" Crab in Puget Sound?

[luvmystang67]

If you check the 2016 regs they're now listed.  Only thing I can find online suggests someone found some once up in Bellingham bay.  Anyone ever see any of these in Puget Sound?  It sounds like they're becoming more prevalent down here, at least enough so that they're listed with their own separate limit.

How deep do you find them?  Sounds like they mud critters?  Now I want to eat one.

[JimmyHoffa]

They are in the strait.  The commercial crabbers catch them every now and then.  Usually in the deeper.

[Encore 280]

Puget Sound King Crab too.

[NRA4LIFE]

Where are they listed in the regs?

[luvmystang67]

Where are they listed in the regs?

Look at the 2016 regs... the crab section sets size restrictions and limits for snow crabs... well "Tanner" crab technically.

[Encore 280]

WDFW website, click on shell fish, crab then type in "tanner crab" in the search box.

[jackelope]

Is a tanner crab the same thing as a snow crab?
I always thought they were different.

[Woodchuck]

Is a tanner crab the same thing as a snow crab?
I always thought they were different.

I always thought that there were like three species of crab that get labeled "snow crab" when they roll out on your plate. 

[C-Money]

Snows, could be Tanners, Opilio or Bairdi?

[luvmystang67]

Naming convention seems a little fishy... basically Snow Crab gets applied to either when they come on the consumer market.  Opilio's are smaller, but they're very similar critters.

[chester]

They specifically say tanner crab in the update unless I missed something?

Now anyone have any ideas on how to catch them? And where they are in the sound? Should you change to a different pot? I think it'd be fun to bring home a limit of tanners on top of Dungeness .


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[Woodchuck]

Snows, could be Tanners, Opilio or Bairdi?

That is what I was told at some point. 
This post is not being stated as fact, just something I was told once. 

[chester]

Snows, could be Tanners, Opilio or Bairdi?

That is what I was told at some point. 
This post is not being stated as fact, just something I was told once. 

That is correct , they just lump all of them together when they go to market. Apparently "snow crab " sounds more appealing then tanner or bairdi to consumers.


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[jackelope]

They specifically say tanner crab in the update unless I missed something?

Now anyone have any ideas on how to catch them? And where they are in the sound? Should you change to a different pot? I think it'd be fun to bring home a limit of tanners on top of Dungeness .


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[chester]

They specifically say tanner crab in the update unless I missed something?

Now anyone have any ideas on how to catch them? And where they are in the sound? Should you change to a different pot? I think it'd be fun to bring home a limit of tanners on top of Dungeness .


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That's kind of what I was afraid of.


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[NRA4LIFE]

Oops, hadn't downloaded the latest regs.  This is interesting. 

[Rainier10]

Snows, could be Tanners, Opilio or Bairdi?

That is what I was told at some point. 
This post is not being stated as fact, just something I was told once. 

This should be part of your new disclaimer, totally cracks me up.  I might even use it.  I think I applies to 50% of what I post and 95% of that is true.

[Mfowl]

If snow crab applies to all the species listed above then they are a deep water species. They fish all the above mentioned crabs on deadliest catch and they fish hundreds of feet deep, like 3-500'.  You might check out the Alaska Outdoors Forum, there is probably some info there since they have a recreational tanner crab fishery in Alaska.

[Mfowl]

If snow crab applies to all the species listed above then they are a deep water species. They fish all the above mentioned crabs on deadliest catch and they fish hundreds of feet deep, like 3-500'.  You might check out the Alaska Outdoors Forum, there is probably some info there since they have a recreational tanner crab fishery in Alaska.

I found a thread quickly on the Alaska Outdoors Forum about Tanner's. It suggested finding a muddy bottom in atleast 30 fathoms but more like 50 fathoms. Apparently you need specific pots for them, I couldn't see the pics as I'm not a member there. I'll bet there is plenty more info you just need to scroll through the back pages of the shell fishing forum. That was just the first thread I opened. Good luck, report back if you give it a try!

[jmscon]

Bairdi is the scientific name of Tanner crab.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chionoecetes_bairdi
180-300' is a long way down if you don't have a puller! I've hand hauled spot prawn pots before, not much fun! Daily limit of six sounds like something to look forward to!!

[Mfowl]

This is a recreational tanner crab pot, they also have pyramid style pots. From other pics I looked at they are big, way bigger that dungeness pots.

[chester]

Wonder what that thing weighs. Any guesses?


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[wildweeds]

I know someone who commercial test fished them last year in the San juans, there are Lots and LOTS of them. As has been said they are deep, he fished them at 400 feet. I saw them in a live tank at the Seafood outfit by my house.  They are opilio . Don't worry they won't be bountiful once the natives claim their 50 percent.

[luvmystang67]

I know someone who commercial test fished them last year in the San juans, there are Lots and LOTS of them. As has been said they are deep, he fished them at 400 feet. I saw them in a live tank at the Seafood outfit by my house.  They are opilio . Don't worry they won't be bountiful once the natives claim their 50 percent.

Was this all near bellingham bay as mentioned in the research articles I've seen?  Test fishery for commercial?

[wildweeds]

 Not even close to Bellingham bay. But they are there, different guy from work stopped in the fog one day and hand pulled a pot from 400 feet and there were 9 or so in it. And yes my understanding of it was the test fishery was to see about numbers for a potential commercial harvest. The thing that was odd was the money grubbing state wasn't going to make a separate license for them. A Dungeness license holder was going to be good to go. The commercials can keep them and sell them as by catch when caught in dung gear.

I know someone who commercial test fished them last year in the San juans, there are Lots and LOTS of them. As has been said they are deep, he fished them at 400 feet. I saw them in a live tank at the Seafood outfit by my house.  They are opilio . Don't worry they won't be bountiful once the natives claim their 50 percent.

Was this all near bellingham bay as mentioned in the research articles I've seen?  Test fishery for commercial?

[trophyelk6x6]

I caught one shrimping this year, the reason he got in is because I open up my "openings" to my pots because I find I catch more shrimp as the bio mass moves easily into the pot   Never caught one before but it stood out for sure. 

[snake]

what is the bio mass?

[trophyelk6x6]

bio mass   Actually a commercial crabbing term meaning huge large waves of crab that can actually be stack up on top of each other.  If you are on great shrimping they can move into your pots in large groups like waves and not one by one. So the idea is make it as easy as possible for them to get in. In my opinion most shrimp pot openings are way to small. 

[lokidog]

what is the bio mass?

Is actually the mass of all living things in an area and would include starfish, urchins, prawns, crabs, shrimp, the little crawly thinks that get in your bait, plankton, fish, worms, etc.

Before the starfish die-off, one reason for restricting the size of the entry holes on shrimp pots was to keep the sun stars out. From our experience locally, the sun stars seem to be pretty much gone. Also, be aware, depending on design, the larger the hole, the easier it is for critters to find their way out.

[CastleRocker]

Bairdi are bigger, buck toothed looking, different eyes, (Bairdi are red, Opi are green), and if you have a chance to compare the taste, I personally think Bairdi are WAY better eating. 

Used to fish them commercially.  WAY before Marco came out with the King Coiler, there were no cranes, and before it was the "Deadliest Catch".  Back then it was just what you fish for between Blackcod in the fall, and Halibut in the spring. 

[snake]

so biomass is a large mass of shrimp or crab?

[chester]

so biomass is a large mass of shrimp or crab?

Yes for the most part


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[trophyelk6x6]

watch your chart plotter, that's how I try to find good shrimping on a ledge   Clouds!!!!!!!!!!!

[westy661]

Hello All,

Been thinking about targeting these Tanners when crabbing reopens. Living in the Bellingham area and LFS doesn't carry the Ladner Tanner pots, or at least I haven't seen them there. Did see that there is an outfit called Dungenous Gear Works in the Arlington area that may have good tanner crabs, but their phone lines are dead and no response to email. Any leads on a source?

Thanks,

[jmscon]

Not sure what the regs say about pots for fishing tanner in Washington waters but I would see if LFS or Reddin could order something for you.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

so biomass is a large mass of shrimp or crab?

We always called them a ball of crab. They ball up for protection and the mass sort of rolls like a ball. Here's a ball of King crab. The balls are usually made up of crab of a similar age group.

Tanner crab aren't always deep. When I lived in Kodiak we'd subsistence fish for them and King crab right in front of the Dog Bay harbor in 10-15 fathoms. We'd get them there in the spring and summer and early fall.

[Born2late]

I make the triggers( doors ) for the commercial pots that dungeness gear works sells. Their number is 360-435-5381
You'll talk to flo or lance.

[westy661]

Hi - Just spoke to Lance at DGWorks. They did make some pots, but then stopped making them, but mostly made a few batches for AK commercial use. He has had a few calls to make more, so he is thinking if he gets a few more requests, he will make a batch.  One a side note, he seems like a super nice dude.

[lokidog]

Hi - Just spoke to Lance at DGWorks. They did make some pots, but then stopped making them, but mostly made a few batches for AK commercial use. He has had a few calls to make more, so he is thinking if he gets a few more requests, he will make a batch.  One a side note, he seems like a super nice dude.

Did he give any idea of the cost for them?

[westy661]

Did he give any idea of the cost for them?
[/quote]

He did not. He was kinda mulling over in his head what the next design would be for a rec trap. He said his last batch were a dome structure that wasn't very good for small boat deck space and the commercial pots were 50lbs which is a bit unwieldy on small boats. The dome structure was an attempt to comply with max volume allowed in the regs. So he was thinking a 35lbs ish conical shape with the top shoot door style.  That being said, he was still gauging the interest to do it our not. 

[Stein]

OK, I have caught them although they were pretty small.  Run your boat under a bridge, go strait and then drop pots.  The only problem is that whenever I caught them I got zero dungies which is pretty tough to consistently do.

[trophyelk6x6]

They are here, totally different way to fish them so it has taken a while before anyone knew.  WE also have box crab.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=BC+Box+Crab+fishing#id=2&vid=fb33783be518baf85174c30f45aa56cd&action=click


Very much off limits, but I have eaten them up in BC as a buddy is diver and they are unreal.....Scallops?  same deal