Actually, the recreational summer crab season is set to open IAW the current P.S. Crab Mgmt Policy with most MAs opening 1 July and closing after the Labor Day week-end. I don't believe WDFW "postpones" our opener; rather, the tribes take advantage of knowing when our opener is scheduled and hit it hard for a month or more prior to that date. Net effect is the same; a huge decrease in legal crab in the total remaining biomass; we get to work on the left-overs.

If you were to check out the proposed salt water rule changes submitted for consideration last year you will find one which proposed opening the recreational season concurrent with the first tribal pots being put in the water in those MAs where the State's share has historically not been fully harvested during the summer and winter recreational seasona. That and keeping in mind that the NT commercials still harvest more poundage than do recreational crabbers.

Anyway, as with virtually all of the rule change proposals submitted by the public WDFW Staff recommended it not be moved forward for further consideration. In short, death be unto it.