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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