Here is the draft position paper of the Recreational Crab Advisory Group. It is a compromise position within the group, but does provide a starting point for discussions with WDFW and the Commission.


Puget Sound Recreational Crab Advisory Group

DRAFT Position Paper
March 25, 2005

Topic: Actions to Extend the Duration of the Recreational Crab Season

1. Revise the current WDFW Commission Dungeness Crab Management Policy for those regions where both state commercial and recreational crab fisheries occur to reallocate a larger quantity of the state’s share of crab to the recreational harvest group. The increased allocation would need to be sufficient to have a measurable increase in season duration in each region.

2. Adopt an alternative sampling method of recreational crab fishers to estimate the recreational crab catch and to improve constituent confidence in the catch estimates. The alternative method would either supplement or replace the current method of conducting phone surveys of catch record cardholders to obtain information used to estimate the catch.

3. After items #1 and #2 are adequately addressed, adopt additional regulatory restrictions if needed to extend the fishing season for harvest opportunity during the fall and winter holidays after at least a summer fishery through the Labor Day weekend. . effectively slow the catch rate of the recreational fishery. General season structure would be designed to provide at least two months of fishing in the summer and at least additional fishing opportunity during the fall and winter holidays.

4. Design the 2005-06 season with a uniform fixed opening date mid June with the potential to open earlier if test fishing results indicate the molt cycle is complete.