That kind of seditious talk will get you banned from the 3-S club (size/sex/season).

Your question about why (what is happening to Dungeness versus red rock) has been asked but there is no clear cut answer available. Speculation was just as you suggested.....that those two species are sufficiently different in tolerances and/or life cycle timing to react differently to changing conditions (at least in the short term).

My personal observations and speculations are based in large part on my own crabbing where year after year I have rowed out and placed pots in the same location in MA 8-2. Not only has there been a significantly decrease in harvestable crab but also a decrease in females. That indicates to me more going on than just over harvest of 6 1/4 and above males.

That said, the 3-S model may work adequately when all other factors are stable. However, if something out there has changed to include just the "normal" cyclical nature of Dungeness crab biomass the 3-S model may exacerbate the swings making the lows deeper and longer.

If the population is on a downward swing and we continue to believe we can harvest all male crab 6 1/4 and above at what point do we have the numbers of breeding males be insufficient keeping in mind that the recruitment into that sexually mature group is also dropping?

A final point - last week I saw whole Dungeness crab in the local market at over $10.00/#. Whether it is selling here at that price point is another matter but we also know much of the West Coast harvest is shipped out of the region and out of the country.

Final caveat: I am also not a crab biologist and my opinions are mine alone.