Here is the link to the crab report on the Commission's agenda for Saturday:
http://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/meetings/2017/08/aug0417_18_summary.pdf.

And here is the summary:

The Puget Sound crab fishery policy (Policy C3609) was reviewed and revised by the Commission on October 1, 2010. The policy stipulates that a Department report summarizing the Puget Sound crab fishery will be given to the Commission on an annual basis. This briefing will summarize the performance and harvest of both commercial and recreational fisheries and regulation compliance by enforcement staff during the 2016 season. Puget Sound crab fishery landings have been robust in recent years with a peak in 2015 and slight decline in 2016. Recreational crab endorsement sales show an increasing trend with over 240,000 sold annually in 2016. New crab fishers compared to the total are declining and represented about 26% of the total crab endorsement sales in 2016. There is an intensive enforcement effort for this fishery. Catch record card violations and retention of undersized crab continue to be issues during enforcement contacts with recreational fishers. Commercial crab licenses have been limited entry since 1981 and the total number licenses is 249. Commercial crab harvest is limited to northern Puget Sound and 2016 ex-vessel crab value exceeds $11.7 million.


It is unfortunate that we are only days away from the mandatory annual report to the Commission yet the full slide show is not yet posted. So to respond to enforcement issues of concern as noted in the summary:

1. CRC Violations: First, it is important to remember that WDFW LEOs are on emphasis patrols specifically looking for violators meaning they are watching and targeting areas of known problems and/or suspicious behavior. It is NOT a random process. In addition to the LE contact data there is also data from creel surveys which is more of a random data set. Here are the comparable results as extracted from the report for the 2015 season (http://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/meetings/2016/04/apr0816_20_presentation.pdf) :

Year........Enforcement.......Creel Survey

2010.....................24%............................13%
2011.....................19%............................11%
2012.....................20%............................12%
2013.....................16%.............................9%
2014.....................17%............................. *
2015.....................17%..............................6%

* No data reported.

So, the LEOs' reported violations (failure to promptly record) is substantially higher than what is noted during creel sampling and that creel data also made a point of only 1% not having a CRC.

2. Retention of Undersized Crab: For 2015 the LEO data had 7% of contacts in violation. This is definitely an issue which can and should be improved upon. As I recall the creel survey folks collected some data on the actual size of undersized crab they encountered and found a significant percentage were above 6 inches. Point being that they were "short" by the dimensions of the points indicating improper measuring procedure (point to point). That is an educational issue and while it is well covered in the regs and tri-fold pamphlet and the educational packet distributed at sport/boat shows and seminars it remains an ongoing issue.

If you look at the data you will see that retention of female crab and being over the daily limit are very minor percentages in violation which in my mind supports that the undersized issue is more an educational problem than intentional. Also, a contact may be recorded as being in multiple violation; that is, over limit, undersized crab and retention of female crab as well as not promptly recording on the CRC.