Given the amount of $ the P.S. crab endorsement generates it would seem a reasonable expenditure to use the reported harvest data to compare the average harvest (of successful crabbers) each day of the rec summer season as well as the actual number of those reporting for the years since the CRC implementation. I suspect there is a big drop off in participation as harvest success/crabber decreases.

Now, as to the qualifications of "as long as the assessments are fairly accurate, and co-management is reasonably healthy" the (multi) Million Dollar Question is ......are they?

I am of the opinion that we have been skating along on an increasing biomass in most areas for years so everyone was fairly happy - up until a year or two ago. Given that we are in an apparent downswing (causes undetermined) the warts of the process are beginning to show.

Edit: I should have offered up my further opinion that commercial crabbers like to minimize costs while maximizing production. I don't think they would prefer to operate on a diminished harvestable population any more than do we.