Winter Crab

[J.Brower]

Anyone done much crabbing this winter? Thinking about making a run down to picnic point/Browns Bay area tomorrow and dropping some pots. Not sure if that would be better or over at possession? 


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[Flaming Antler Outdoors]

we have been doing well, seems like a lot of crab up north.

[jmscon]

Make sure and check the refs, I think they closed 8-1 and 8-2 on the 24th

[h20hunter]

 

[J.Brower]

Make sure and check the refs, I think they closed 8-1 and 8-2 on the 24th

Will be south of the 8-2 line for sure


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[h20hunter]

Here is what i see on 9....

[h20hunter]

8-1 and  8-2 closed.

[Stein]

For sport crabbing.....


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[Jake Dogfish]

The sport season was closed in area 8 due to commercial over harvest.

https://wdfw.wa.gov/news/puget-sound-marine-areas-8-1-and-8-2-recreational-crabbing-close-oct-23

[J.Brower]

I emailed wdfw last week to get some clarification on the situation of 8-2, here’s the response

Hi Josh-
 
The Mill Creek front desk staff forwarded your message for a response.  Thanks for the email and I agree that this closure is disturbing, frustrating, and that people must be held accountable. The current crab quota for Marine Areas 8-1 and 8-2 is 1,000,000 pounds for State harvest and 1,000,000 pounds for Tribal harvest.  The State recreational summer fishery took about 680,000 pounds and the State set aside additional pounds for the winter recreational fishery to establish a target for the State commercial fishery here.
 
All wholesale fish dealers are required by law to quick report all purchases of Dungeness crab harvested by State commercial crabbers in Puget Sound by 10 am the next day.  Unfortunately, a few of these businesses who knew this rule and complied in previous years did not do so this year.  WDFW uses that information to set a closure date for the State commercial fishery that achieves the target.  When the quick report information is low (underreported) then the closure is too late and the quota is exceeded.  Our Enforcement Program is moving on prosecuting these wholesale dealers, and the fact that the recreational fishery was closed will be a part of determining the final punishment.
 
Their failure was compounded by the fact that a record commercial catch rate was observed this season.  Even though the summer recreational season was average (pounds similar to last year), there were a large number of softshell crab showing up when the summer recreational season closed on Labor Day.  Many of those crab hardened up prior to October 1st and the State commercial fleet definitely found them.
 
So what might happen from this point onward? Currently the Tribes are at ~690,000 lbs of their 1,000,000 lb share.  They plan on opening their commercial fishery on November 4.  If they observe a catch rate similar to what the State commercial fleet observed when it closed (30,000 to 40,000 pounds per day), then they will be at 1,000,000 lbs within 7-10 days.  At that time State and Tribal managers will review all information and discuss whether an addition to the quota is warranted. If it is determined that an adjustment is warranted and it adds 200,000 (or more) pounds to the State and Tribal shares, then the State will likely re-open the recreational fishery.  The final season quota for the State in MA 8-1 and 8-2 was only 1,100,000 lbs last year … however it was 1,250,000 lbs in 2017, 1,400,000 lbs in 2016, and 1,500,000 lbs in 2015.
 
Regards-
Donald E. Velasquez


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[Jake Dogfish]

Wow   
Thanks for posting that.  More detailed than the rumors I had heard.
Whatever happens, the resource will likely pay for this mistake. 
It would be nice to crab in the South Sound again someday but not looking good. 

[J.Brower]

Well, went and braved the cold this morning. Ended up with 6 Dungies and 6 Red Rocks. Tossed back a few small but legal rocks and 2 soft legal dungies. Had to weed thru lots of small ones and battle with the commercial pots off picnic point but all in all a successful day! Trolled for some cutts but couldn’t find any biters...




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[Stein]

Wow   
Thanks for posting that.  More detailed than the rumors I had heard.
Whatever happens, the resource will likely pay for this mistake. 
It would be nice to crab in the South Sound again someday but not looking good. 

No, recreational will.


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[WSU]

I, for one, appreciate WDFW being transparent about what happened.  If they follow through with correcting the problem, it'll be even more impressive to me.

[Stein]

That's the big question.  WDFW can't prosecute and the commercial side has plenty of friends in Olympia.  My best guess is that the crabbing was so good they decided to just go for it and make a killing which would cover any wrist slapping that might happen.  I was tossing back monster softshell the last few days which I have never done before.