Any idea on why the WDFW has not published 2021 crab seasons yet?
The Puyallup tribe has already finished their season in area 11 and we have not yet heard if we are going to get a season or what it will look like. Most of the other tribes seem to be harvesting too. If there truly is a co-management, wouldn't our seasons be available at the same time the tribes announce theirs, or at least within a reasonable amount of time?

It is of particular interest to me, as last year the tribe took just over their full allotment in area 11. The sports side, however, only got about 75% of their quota. I have emailed the area biologist a bit. Apparently, they believed that the rec. side only had around 3700 lbs left on their quota. For this reason they decided not to open the winter season. Later on, when they further analyzed the data and realized the rec. side actually had approx. 9250 Lbs left, but by then they felt it was too late to have a season. They followed it up by stating they feel is was the right decision as the latest population surveys showed the stock numbers had fallen dramatically from the previous year at the same time.

I have several problems with this explanation. The first is that the rec side routinely does not take over 3000lbs during the entire winter season. With adequate monitoring, the season could have been shut down early. The second is that if there truly were less than available then forecasted, the rec side should get that made up this year against tribal quotas, as they went in early and took their full share.

We will see what happens, but with the tribe already taking this years quota before even announcing what ours will be, it becomes real hard to bring up objections. Their quota was reduced quite a bit, but with the state already saying numbers are down, this would be expected. The tribe seemed to get their numbers fairly quick, but again, we will have to see what that really means.

Your phrase, "If there truly is a co-management, . . . " clearly captures the situation. There isn't co-management. In Puget Sound there is treaty tribal management, and then there is whatever the treaty tribes decide WDFW can have. Ask Kelly Susewind to describe how that is not the case.

The state's managers have failed on most levels since the 70's.
Simply look at the charts for all critters across the board.

Morons.

After only one stint on the Puget Sound Recreational Crab and Shrimp Advisory Group (I did reapply but apparently was deemed replaceable - probably by someone who won't lean forward as much) I feel a bit more free to comment.

After pushing repeatedly to get a webpage up and running it finally occurred and included is information on past and upcoming meetings: https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/advisory/psrcsac#meeting-calendar.

As you can see the last meeting was on 11 March and since there are no notes or minutes posted you as interested license holders cannot assess what transpired. What has been informally reported is that most of that meeting was taken up providing information to the new members and then discussing shrimping. The Staff then said they would be having a follow-up meeting to discuss crab. Well, it is now into June and so far nothing posted regarding another meeting.

That there was a 2020 season at all in MA 11 was driven solely by the Puyallup tribe which unilaterally decided to have a season when WDFW wanted to hold off another year. I suspect there was again a significant conflict between the tribe and WDFW.

Another failure to note is that the requisite reports for the 2020 crab and shrimp seasons are not posted nor have they been presented to the Commission. Apparently the Commission does not maintain a calendar of required reports. Those reports were being presented to the entire Commission then downgraded to being reported to just the Fish Committee. Now????

One of my past recommendations was that slides which showed agreed to harvest numbers against actuals need to provide a clearer picture. Specifically, that the agree to harvest number be the initial number with any in season changes duly noted and explained via footnotes. One only need go back to 2019 and the fiasco in 2E (MA 8-1/2) with no mention of that mess in the report to the Commission and Legislature.

Yes, co-management is in name only and, frankly, any precept of open communications between WDFW and constituents (we the license purchasers) is in name only.

Edit: The Department is on at least its third edition (they are not numbered or dated) of its handbook for advisors as posted on the various groups' webpages. There isn't one for Staff nor is there a Commission policy related to Advisory Groups or Committees.

Same crap every year. Late announcement, all campsites/moorage already booked up. Wonder why I continue to participate? I am guessing/banking on no season in MA 11, 12So. & 13. Maybe a partial season in 12No. Everything else, based on history to open July 1st, which happens to be a Thursday this year. San Juans, guessing again, July 15th, another Thursday? Talk is the later openers are to wait for molted crab to fill/harden up. My question is, how do the Tribes get around that wait time?

Regarding MA 11 the tribe has again put WDFW in an untenable position. Not having a recreational season would further piss off the rec community and theoretically provide an opportunity for the tribe to assert a foregone opportunity by the State and take the other half of what they likely unilaterally established as a harvestable quota.

But not having an Advisory Group meeting the rumors abound.

And not knowing what's really out there let's you fish them out without endangering your conscience.

Doesn't the law/court rulings around crab and shellfish (Rafeedie) require agreement before fishing?

The Point No Point Treaty Council has unilaterally issued both subsistence and commercial opening announcements for Area 5 under Para 4.6 of U.S. vs. WA which means those tribes have not yet reached a harvest agreement with the State. Another thing to note is the inclusion of red rock keeping in mind that one of the arguments for not having red rock seasons in MA 11 when Dungies were closed was that it would open it up to tribal harvest. While not the Puyallup tribe this is indicative that there is a commercial value.

POINT NO POINT TREATY COUNCIL SECTION 4.6 CRAB REGULATION FOR REGION 5
The following regulation is promulgated by the Point No Point Treaty Council and shall govern the conduct of off-reservation commercial Dungeness crab fisheries by the Port Gamble S'Klallam and the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribes in Region 5, Hood Canal. The term of this regulation is from June 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022, unless superceded, and is intended to regulate the Dungeness crab harvest by the Port Gamble and Jamestown Tribes in Region 5 under provisions of Paragraph 4.6 of United States v. Washington, 898 F. supp. 1453 (W.D. Wash. 1995), as amended by the Stipulation and Order Amending Shellfish Implementation Plan, dated April 8, 2002, (hereafter "Implementation Order"). In the event the Region 5 Crab Harvest Management Plan is completed before the end of this regulation term, this regulation will be superceded by a new regulation conforming to the provisions of the Region 5 Crab Harvest Management Plan.

FILING ORGANIZATION: POINT NO POINT TREATY COUNCIL
REGULATION NUMBER: #S21 -057
DATE ADOPTED: JUNE 2, 2021
REGULATION MODIFIED REGULATION #S21 -055 , SECTIONS 5 AND 7a .
REGULATION SUPERCEDED: NONE
CATCH AREA S: REGION 5: CATCH REPORTING A REAS 25C, 27A,
AND THAT PART OFAREA 27B NORTH OF AYOCK PT.
FISHERY TYPE: COMMERCIAL
SPECIES: DUNGENESS CRAB ( Metacarcinus magister )
AND RED ROCK CRAB ( Cancer productus )
ON/OFF RESERVATION: OFF
EFFECTIVE DATES: JUNE 17 THROUGH JUNE 19 , 2021

Just looked up and read Rafeedie, I am not a lawyer, but it looks to be fairly understandable to me. This is what I get out of it.

Much like Boldt set up provisions for a Fishery Advisory Board, Rafeedie set up provisions for a "special master" to hear and decide disputes. I am sure the state will claim there is nothing they can do when a tribe harvests without an agreement, but this simply is not true. There are clear guidelines about how to object and, in particular, an order to set up "Special Masters". I am not an attorney, but the lack of these "Special Masters" to hear disputes would appear to put the parties out of compliance with Rafeedie. I need to show up for one of the meetings with a copy of the court order in my hand, so when they claim there is nothing they can do I can read it aloud, then ask if they are idiots or just liars, because one of the two must be true.

So, does all of this mean that MA 13 is going to be closed again this summer for red rock crab?

MA13 not closing for just low population of dungies, DOH water quality program has shown for the last 3 years that the PH balance is shifting towards the acidic, paired with that tests have shown the crabs are "soft" and starting to have a hard time creating a thick hard shell.
With the Salish Sea not flushing it's water like it used to with free flowing rivers and more and more people living around it, failing septics, cities dumping sewer straight to the bay (for any reason), road runnoff, agricultural runnoff blah blah blah blah. ...if MA13 goes acidic officially others will be close behind and a bevy of issues unlike we have ever seen will be upon us.

Unless the shellfish manager and his team have a major change in attitude a closure due to low Dungy numbers will be a closure for all crabbing. Believe me when I write that Advisory Group members pushed hard for a red rock only fishery in affected areas (2018 and 2019?) and were repeatedly rebuffed. Probably one of the reasons I wasn't invited back for a second term.

Anyway, excuses included that there was no data available to support a fishery (hmmm, I recall having explained to them that when crabbing was open the season specifically included red rock so how is a stand alone red rock season a problem?) and that it would involve separate negotiations with the tribes. That latter excuse is interesting given that the Point No Point Treaty Council just issued regs for a commercial season specifically including red rock. Then there was their concern regarding poaching. Bottom line, my take on it was that they simply didn't want to have to deal with it no matter the availability of red rock and number of folks who would have participated (lost recreational opportunity).

Of course you won't find any of that in the official records because Staff didn't produce and make public minutes of those meetings.

See my response to Cheapskate. I won't dispute DOH water quality results but will categorically state that none of those issues were presented by Staff as reasons to not have a red rock season in MA 13 or any of the other areas closed due to low Dungy numbers.

Co-management? Co-management? I ask no one on this board use this term, unless using it in jest. There is no co-management.

50%/50% from Boldt does not exist, and the WDFW does not pursue our fair and legal share of the catch. The gap favoring the treaty share is growing all the time.
The following chinook catch numbers are from sworn declarations filed with the U.S. District Court:
Year Treaty catch State catch
2017 59% 41%
2018 57% 43%
2019 58% 42%

That's a difference of 124,696 chinook over that 3 year period.

For 2020, the WDFW agreed to a 62% vs. 38% split for chinook (111,615 treaty catch vs. 69,622 for non-treaty fishermen). And oh, for the single year of 2020 coho, there were 40,000 fewer coho for the non-treaty share. There is no “make-up to balance numbers next season.” For Christ sake, that would be co-management! (The numbers above are what WDFW freely agreed to in negotiations with the treaty share; I don't know what the actual catch numbers were.)

In crab, you already quoted some recent numbers, but that’s not anything new. For the 17 year period from 2001 to 2017, WDFW management reports that the treaty crab catch was 10,250 pounds more than the state catch…PER YEAR. That’s 17 x 10,250 less crab than WDFW should have secured for our state share. Was there a “make-up to balance numbers next season?” Of course not. WDFW will not negotiate to balance the share as the law provides, or as they are supposed to for the thousands of state citizens they are supposed to represent. We lose more opportunity every year. Year, after year, after year…

Common sense and logic dictates WDFW should recoup and balance harvest shares as granted TO BOTH TREATY and NON-TREATY by Boldt. The treaty share does it. WDFW does not.

Co-management? Where's our representation?

(I'm not against Boldt or treaty rights, I just want my fishing rights and the state rights observed and recognized, instead of neglected and randomly observed. I'm not asking for anything more than "in common".)

Just open the fn thing the same time tribes start and let it be a fare free for all. Force them to negotiate equally by participating in all there shellfish fisheries while they are out there.

Suggested to Staff and......crickets. Nobody there willing to play hardball with the few tools still available.

WDFW ‘s Fishing and Shellfish web page opening statement.

“ Some of the best fishing opportunities in the nation are available in Washington. From fly-fishing for bass and trout on freshwater lakes and streams east of the Cascades to trolling for salmon along the coast to crabbing in Puget Sound, Washington offers a diverse and unique outdoors experience. Find the experience that's right for you, whether you're a long-time angler or a first-time fisher.“

I think they say right there, “crabbing” in Puget Sound. Maybe they need to fix that with an “ except” in MA 11, 12, and 13 edit...

RANT! F the tribes! Everybody else around PS is lawless. Whether living illegally in the streets of Seattle and on SEA School District property w/ drug use and violence in those neighborhoods. Thieving without repercussions. Illegal street drug use everywhere. I'm going out and getting some crab. If they even try to arrest, site, or even try to board my boat, I think I have a case to win based on the BS going on everywhere else. Compare and contrast? I need these shellfish to survive or I will die! That's my case. Sportsman are way too passive. Time to step up on our own and push for change like every other group is pushing for the change they want. My piece of [Bleeeeep!] boat and p/u truck can get confiscated for all I care. See you out there.

R&G,

You my friend, if caught, will without a doubt be prosecuted to the full extent of the laws. Unless of course you are a person of the street, on the county dime, or possibly have stolen or found this boat. You can have past criminal leanings and if you show you’re possibly the person riding around in the 80’s derelict RV , blowing non carbon based oil out the rusted tailpipe while dipping trans fluids on the boat launch, no problems.

If you can pay the bills, you can do the time !

One of the prosecuting attorneys for Pierce County recently told me they were not prosecuting any fish and wild life violations. Not sure if that is true, but it would not surprise me. That probably only applies to criminal citations, as they likely would not pass up the opportunity to collect a fine.