(3) is the crab penalty section. It was added to the RCW in 2008. The Commission didn't have to set a penalty amount - the statute says "...may..." and could have chosed a smaller amount but that the penalty couldn't exceed $10.

I'm curious how many hunters return their tag information and how much money the agency takes in off the hunting community.

Another question is how good is the agency doing in providing a "...live operator..." to report the harvest information to. See the last sentence in (1). Here's a section from the WDFW website on reporting crab harvest. No mention of a "live operator"

The catch from summer catch record cards must be reported by September 21st, 2009 and the catch from winter catch record cards must be reported by January 15th, 2010. CRCs must be reported online (click here) or returned to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). Cards should be reported online or returned whether or not the cardholder caught or fished for crab during the season. Completed catch record cards can be returned to WDFW by mailing it to the address printed on the card or dropping it off at one of WDFW's six regional offices. Beginning with 2009 winter harvest, failure to report crab catch by returning your CRC card or by reporting the catch online will result in a $10 penalty on your next license purchase.

.....so many questions.....

RCW 77.32.070
Information required from license applicants — Reports on taking/effort to harvest fish, shellfish, and wildlife — Administrative penalty.

(1) Applicants for a license, permit, tag, or stamp shall furnish the information required by the director. However, the director may not require the purchaser of a razor clam license under RCW 77.32.520 to provide any personal information except for proof of residency. The commission may adopt rules requiring licensees or permittees to keep records and make reports concerning the taking of or effort to harvest fish, shellfish, and wildlife. The reporting requirement may be waived where, for any reason, the department is not able to receive the report. The department must provide reasonable options for a licensee to submit information to a live operator prior to the reporting deadline.

(2) The commission may, by rule, set an administrative penalty for failure to comply with rules requiring the reporting of taking or effort to harvest wildlife. The commission may also adopt rules requiring hunters who have not reported for the previous license year to complete a report and pay the assessed administrative penalty before a new hunting license is issued.

(a) The total administrative penalty per hunter set by the commission must not exceed ten dollars.

(b) By December 31st of each year, the department shall report the rate of hunter compliance with the harvest reporting requirement, the administrative penalty imposed for failing to report, and the amount of administrative penalties collected during that year to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the senate and house of representatives.

(3) The commission may, by rule, set an administrative penalty for failure to comply with rules requiring the reporting of data from catch record cards officially endorsed for Puget Sound Dungeness crab. The commission may also adopt rules requiring fishers who possessed a catch record card officially endorsed for Puget Sound Dungeness crab and who have not reported for the previous license year to complete a report and pay the assessed administrative penalty before a new catch record card officially endorsed for Puget Sound Dungeness crab is issued.

(a) The total administrative penalty per fisher set by the commission must not exceed ten dollars.

(b) By December 31st of each year, the department shall report the rate of fisher compliance with the Puget Sound Dungeness crab catch record card reporting requirement, the administrative penalty imposed for failing to report, and the amount of administrative penalties collected during that year to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the senate and house of representatives.


[2008 c 244 § 1; 2005 c 418 § 1; 2004 c 248 § 3; 1998 c 191 § 11; 1995 c 116 § 3; 1987 c 506 § 79; 1981 c 310 § 18; 1980 c 78 § 108; 1955 c 36 § 77.32.070. Prior: 1947 c 275 § 99; Rem. Supp. 1947 § 5992-108.]

...and, lastly, here's the WAC on Catch Record Cards. The penalty is found in (6)(b)


220-56-175
Catch record cards.
It is unlawful for any person to fail to comply with the catch record requirements as provided for in this section:

(1) In order to fish for or possess for personal use any Dungeness crab in Catch Record Card Area 4 east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh Line, and in Catch Record Card Areas 5-13, an angler must obtain and have in his or her personal possession a valid and appropriate Puget Sound Dungeness crab catch record card as described in WAC 220-69-236.

(2) In order to fish for or possess for personal use any anadromous salmon, sturgeon, halibut, or steelhead, an angler must obtain and have in his or her personal possession a valid and appropriate catch record card as described in WAC 220-69-236. The only exception is for commercially caught salmon retained for personal use, as provided for in WAC 220-20-016, and commercially caught sturgeon retained for personal use, as provided for in WAC 220-20-021. Also, a catch record card is not required for landlocked steelhead or for salmon in waters designated as "landlocked salmon rules apply" in WAC 232-28-619.

(3) To validate their catch record cards, anglers must completely, accurately, and legibly complete all personal identification information in ink on the catch record card before detaching the card from its underlying copy or, for automated licenses, affixing the appropriate validation sticker to the catch record card. A catch record card remains valid as long as there is one or more unfilled spaces available for the species being fished for, except:

(a) In the mainstem Columbia River downstream from where the river forms the common boundary between Oregon and Washington, a catch record card remains valid for catch-and-release sturgeon fishing when the sturgeon portion of the card is full.

(b) A person may not use a second or subsequent catch record card to retain sturgeon and wild steelhead after the first card is full.

(4) Immediately upon catching and possessing a salmon, steelhead, sturgeon or halibut, anglers must enter, in ink, in the appropriate space on the card, the place, date of catch, and species (catch type). For sturgeon, anglers also must record the length of the fish; for halibut, anglers also must record the vessel type; and for salmon, anglers also must indicate whether or not the fish was marked.

(5) Immediately upon retaining a Puget Sound Dungeness crab aboard a vessel or on the shore, a fisher must enter, in ink, in the appropriate space on the Puget Sound Dungeness crab catch record card, the place and date of catch, the fishery type, and a tally mark for each Dungeness crab retained from each catch record card area fished. At the end of the fishing day, the fisher must enter the total number of crab tally marks for each fishery type.

(6)(a) Every person issued a catch record card must, by April 30 of the year after they used the card, return the card to the department of fish and wildlife. People issued a Puget Sound Dungeness crab catch record card must return the card to the Washington department of fish and wildlife or report the card information at the designated internet site by the dates indicated on the card.

(b) Effective December 1, 2009, and thereafter, failure to return a Dungeness crab catch record card or to report the Dungeness crab catch record card information at the designated internet site by the dates indicated on the card will result in a ten-dollar administrative fee. The administrative fee will be collected from anglers when they acquire a subsequent Puget Sound Dungeness crab endorsement.

(7) Any person possessing a catch record card must show the card to any law enforcement officer or authorized department employee who asks to inspect the card.

(8) A catch record card must not be transferred, borrowed, altered, or loaned to another person, unless pursuant to Substitute Senate Bill No. 6260, effective June 12, 2008.