Just an FYI but I was told by a WDFW employee that the most recent several years of NT commercial crabbing in 2E and 2W ran into February and that their harvest after the initial couple of weeks was on crab which had molted and hardened up enough to harvest. So how is that pertinent to the quality of opportunity (as in meaningful opportunity)??

Had they not been harvested by NT commercials up to and into February they would have been available for (first) the tribes and then recreational crabbers come July. So given the fact that the NT season is closed in 2W probably for the rest of the season no further harm. But in 2E there is something like 181,000 pounds out of the State's share after taking out the rec summer harvest, two weeks of NT commercial harvest (currently closed), and the projected rec winter harvest. Will the so called shellfish manager let those crab go or will they (1) extend the rec winter season or (2) put the NT commercials back on the water?

With that excess on the table one has to suggest that we don't need a September closure (6 weeks this year) for WDFW to determine if there is adequate poundage available to start a winter rec season.

Hello Commissioners! Are you there? Adaptive management with emphasis on recs in those areas.