I have a hard time believing this is based off climate. If it was, I would first wonder why warmer areas, such as California and Oregon have seasons that are so much more liberal and an apparent higher abundance of crab. To the North, the Vancouver area has a smaller limit, but is left open all year in their in land waters, again pointing to higher numbers. If there is an environmental component, I would lean to the something being washed in to the water, as both the far south Puget Sound and far end of Hood Canal could have problems with this. The theory is that you can never over harvest the crabs as long as the females and undersized males are left alone. In fact, that is why Oregon allows the size of males down to 5 3/4 inches, as they argue that there should always be a large enough population of breeding male crabs under this size to not effect the population. So far, they seem to be correct as they seem to have adequate numbers to justify the larger bag limits.

Are there any studies showing that there is a significant water quality difference in South Puget Sound as compared to other areas, not just in Washington but in Califorina, Oregon and Vancouver?