As you probably know WDFW's crab management plan is the 3-S; size, sex and season.

Basically it allows for the harvest of all male crab 6 1/4 inch or bigger under the belief that male crab start mating at about 5 1/2 inches and so will get at least one happy season and maybe two before they reach harvestable size and that those males will be sufficient for breeding.

That 3-S plan may work if other factors don't come into play and particularly if those other factors adversely affect spawning and recruitment over time resulting in an overall downward population trend. Sound familiar?

Even the now retired Shellfish Manager Bob Sizemore intimated that the 3-S system was more appropriate for open ocean waters than enclosed waters like South Sound.

Bottom line - I would have preferred at least another year without a season in MA 11 not only to build up population there but also in hopes of bigger spawns to reseed MA 13. Unfortunately WDFW was put into a no win situation by the action of the tribe.