Question.....I can't find an answer in "the book".
If I go catch my limit of crab today, mark them on my card, and keep them alive by using a live well on my dock, then go catch my limit tomorrow and Sunday and do the same....then clean and cook them all on monday, is that legal? Is there a rule about keeping them alive for later days? I was thinking to mark them with a wax crayon with the date they were caught on their shell and taking a date stamped picture. What do you guys think?

The daily bag limit is defined as the maximum number or pounds of fish, shellfish, or seaweed of a given species and size that a person may legally keep in a single day. The related possession limit is the number of daily limits allowed to be kept in the field or in transit. You need to find out what the possession limit is for crab where you are. Alive or dead, it is unlikely it is 3 days worth "in the field" but you'll have to locate the details.

Crab possession limit from page 125 of the pamphlet is:

Possession Limit
One daily limit in fresh form. Additional
shellfish may be possessed in frozen or
processed form.

It is unlawful to possess crab in the field without retaining the back
shell.

So you can keep them alive, but only one daily limit.

That's how I read it. Did not keep me from catching a limit Sat evening, cooking them and icing them away in a cooler in the truck, spending the night on the boat anbd catching a second limit Sunday morning to get enough to supply our 4th of july party.

Assuming that alive falls under the "fresh" description which is my understanding. But the possession limit is a bit murky.

The definition for possession limit (reg pamphlet pg 11) is "The number of daily limits allowed to be kept in the field or in transit." (emphasis added) There is nothing in that which addresses fresh or processed.

Under the specific Shellfish/Seaweed Rules (pg 125) the Possession Limit is further defined as "One daily limit in fresh form. Additional shellfish may be possessed in frozen or processed form."

So, can one be in the field or in transit with a limit of fresh crab as well as additional crab which has been processed? Seems so. But the murk doesn't end there.

If one goes to the WAC the following will be found:


WAC 220-56-312

Shellfish—Possession limits.

It is unlawful for any one person to possess at any time (emphasis added) more than one daily limit of fresh shellfish. Additional shellfish may be possessed in a frozen or processed form.


The "at any time" is a much broader coverage than the "in the field or in transit" language in the pamphlet and, according to a senior WDFW LE officer, includes at an ordinary residence. So, if one were to harvest a limit of crab and keep them at home in a fresh form and then go out the next day and retain any additional crab they would be in violation of the above cited WAC.

@Larry B,
or if one lived on the waterfront and kept a few limits in a commercial trap
under their tie up float, like happened in a few places, this was also in court as in possession of more than one limit of crab.

My father in law used to clean them and keep them on ice for 24 hours. so they were not cooked whole or right away, but were processed.... but he did have to keep the shells. I don't know if that would hold up in court today.

As a warning to all who look at the pamphlet as "gospel". The rules are what are filed as WACs. Regardless of what the pamphlet says, the actual law is what has been legally filed. Unfortunately, that may involve lawyers.

Keeping more than a limit alive in a pot on your dock is called a "refrigerator pot"...and it was specifically targeted when the laws were changed many years ago to restrict you to one "fresh" limit in your possession.

Fish on...

Todd

From my reading "fresh" crab in the frig or on ice is not frozen nor processed and, therefore, counts as part of your possession limit. Once at a normal residence I doubt that there is a requirement for retention of the shells but that is an interesting point and potential argument for one definition (see below).

My point in bringing this up is that the language for "Possession Limit" is different for shellfish than it is for finfish. It was suggested to me by the WDFW LEO that that may well be a carryover from pre-merger days (Dept of Fisheries and Dept of Game). Absent some strong justification for having two different definitions my position is that there should be just one and it should be the "in the field or in transit" version. Alternately, they need to create a finfish definition and a shellfish definition.

Thanks todd. I used that term refrigerator pot this weekend....I got 3 "I don't knows". I also brought up keeping them alive in a tank at home. I was given the person to contact and hopefully will have a hard answer tomorrow.

Can you keep crab alive at home? Sure, just don't let the kids name them.

According to the clear language of the WAC you just can't have more than one limit in fresh form at any time.

Hope you share the response you receive. If all they do is read the regulation pamphlet they will rely on the "in the field or in transit" language and tell you, "Sure, you'd be good as long as you are at a regular residence."

Really scary when you ask a legal question and the answer they give is from the digest and not the actual rule.

I'm afraid that this has been going on as long as I can remember. There was a time in the 80's when the WAC said it was legal to use two rods in the Puget Sound but the pamphlet said that it was not. Also there are still sections that are often misinterpreted by many enforcement officers.

From my contracting background when there is an ambiguity the responsibility lies with whomever wrote the specs. To the extent that that theory is applicable to this discussion would be reinforced if the Agency's response (erroneously) cites the digest thereby reinforcing that the digest is what is perceived by both groups as the "law."

Which is why I consider the actual WAC if I have a question.