Time to submit 2016 winter crab catches

Puget Sound sport crabbing to close Dec. 31;
new online system opens for reporting

Correction: Mailing address was corrected on December 28, 2016

OLYMPIA – Puget Sound marine areas currently open for recreational winter crabbing will close at 5 p.m. on Dec. 31, after which all sport crabbers licensed to fish for Dungeness crab in the Sound will have through Feb. 1 to report their winter results.

Crabbers who plan to report their catch online should be aware of some changes to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's (WDFW) online system, said Rich Childers, shellfish policy lead for the department.

"Crabbers should be prepared to take a few extra minutes to navigate our new online system," Childers said. "Crab reporting is not only required but is essential to managing our crab fisheries."

To report online, crabbers will need to establish an online account by creating a user name and password and providing an email address. Individuals can use these accounts for a variety of purposes, including crab reporting and purchasing hunting and fishing licenses.

Anyone who has a question about the online system can contact WDFW's Licensing Division at (360) 902-2464 or licensing@dfw.wa.gov

The online reporting system will be available Jan. 1 through Feb. 1 at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/. Crabbers also may send their catch record cards to WDFW by mail at WDFW CRC Unit, PO Box 43142, Olympia, WA 98504-3142.

State fishing rules require that all sport crabbers with winter catch record cards submit catch reports for the winter season to WDFW by Feb. 1 – even if they did not catch any crab. Sport crabbers should be aware that if they fail to submit a winter catch report, they will receive a $10 fine when they purchase their 2017 crab endorsement.

After Dec. 31, all Puget Sound marine areas will be closed to recreational crabbing until summer 2017.

The number of commercial pots on the west side of Camano was unreal the last couple of weeks. It looked like something from the Bering.

Inside protected waters should be off limits to commies and their massive crab boats. Those mother f'rs were plowing thru the small craft and setting strings in 30' 100 yards off the beach.

There have been at least three NT crabbers working the east side of Possession; I assume WDFW reopened that fishery after closing it in early October before the recreational winter season even opened.

If you look at the harvest numbers since the implementation of the "new" crab management policy the recreational crabbers have not been coming close to taking the State's share in 2W (MA 9) and 2E (MA 8-1 and 8-2).

Two rule change proposals were submitted this past year to address this issue. One called for the summer rec season to open in those areas as soon as the first tribal pot hits the water and the other called for opening the winter rec season the day after the summer season closes. Either or both would have increased recreational harvest numbers and opportunity (days on the water). Both were shot down in flames by Staff. Keep in mind that those areas were to get recreational priority.

And they want to more than double the P.S. Dungeness crab endorsement???