I rec'd the following note today. It will be of interest to those of you who crab in MA 12 (Hood Canal).

The following is an update on the status of the 2009 Hood Canal crab fishery. Management plan negotiations for the 2009 fishery began in January of 2009 and after extensive discussions an agreement was reached to delay all fisheries until July 29 as a conservation measure to address the decline in crab abundance observed over the past several years. This delay is intended to retain all males in the Canal during the mating period which occurs May through July. Managers agreed the delay would only apply to the area south of the Hood Canal bridge and north of the bridge to Foulweather Bluff (area 25C) would open to all parties on July 1. Language describing the 2009 season and associated delay was circulated in draft 2009 management plans in early May. When draft plans were distributed disputes surfaced regarding what was and was not agreed to regarding delaying the fishery. In the end, the parties were able to reach an agreement for the 2009 fishery and the following schedule was secured in a signed management plan last week: The recreational fishery will open north of the bridge on July 1 and south of the bridge on July 29. The treaty fishery can open in all areas north and south of the bridge between July 15 and August 15 with a catch limit of 15,000 pounds. The treaty fishery will most likely open on July 15 and is projected to remain open for about a week. Although the treaty fishery can re-open after August 15, they are discussing staying closed until November. In my opinion, this schedule was a good compromise and has clear advantages for the recreational fishery. Thanks and good luck crabbing this year.