Washington Sport Crabbing - Please Read

[en_pissant]

Well the WDFW and Washington legislature are at it again.

We were barely able to crab at all last year in Puget Sound, but apparently that wasn't enough.

They want to reduce sport crabbing to four crab, and only open it Tuesday - Saturday for five weeks. This pretty much means that if you work for a living like most of us, you'll get to crab five days out of the year, assuming you can make it out every Saturday.

Please read the article here.

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=fish06&date=20050106&query=crab+

I have written letters to the commission, the Seattle Times, and Hunting and Fishing Washington. I'm also going to write my representatives in Olympia.

What it boils down to is that as sport fishermen, we just don't have the lobbying juice that the commercial, and tribal guys do.

We are in serious danger of completely losing our right to harvest crab at all. Please take the time to voice your opinion.

Ross
22' Angler - Hooligan
ross@w-link.net

[wailedcentipede]

i'm north of the border not really any of my business .. but you would think wed-sun would be more fair .. like include the full weekend ... wc

[Pat Anderson]

I didn't see this as a proposed rule change on the official WDFW site...There is a proposal to change the opening date in part of Area 7. Here is the URL for the proposed rule changes on the official site:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/fish_rule_proposals.htm

If I missed it, maybe somebody could post the actual proposal from WDFW.

[en_pissant]

Pat,

It's almost like they are trying to sneak it in. I called WDFW and talked to the director of Puget Sounds Shellfish. She said that she was sure it was on there webpage, but yet couldn't tell me where.

The new ruling will pretty much mean that if you are working guy, you'll get five days of crabbing this year.

Here's an article from the times.

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=fish06&date=20050106&query=crab

They are definitely having a meeting about it this Friday.

[rogerbum]

[en_pissant]

Hi Roger,

Great point on the dollars in regard to revenue for the state. That's one I hadn't really thought of. I love your IFQ idea, but I'm not sure it will ever happen.

My dad is going to to go down to the meeting in Olympia this Friday, but unfortunately, like most sport fisherman, I have to work on Friday.

Here's a letter I sent to a few publications, and WDFW. You actually make a few of the points that I did in my letter. The Seattle Times contacted me, and said they were going to publish it, but they haven't yet....

To whom it may concern.

It's remarkable to me, that the sport crab fishery might actually be
reduced even more than it already has been. Last year I was able to take
my seven year old daughter out for only one day of crabbing, during the
amazingly short five week season that WDFW deigned to grant sport
crabbers. That's right, the season that was cut off right before Labor
Day weekend, with almost no notice! I guess it looks like this is the
generation where sport crabbing will be eliminated.

I'm only 37 years old, but I've spent almost all of my life in the Pacific
Northwest. I have spent countless hours pulling crab pots here in Puget
Sound, and in Southeast Alaska. Crabbing, clamming, fishing, and hunting
are a huge part of life for many of us here in the northwest. My family
for example, has harvested seafood for generations. Even though I'm a
white guy, my family has harvested seafood in the northwest for eight
generations. My great aunt worked much of her life as an oyster shucker
down in Ocean Park. It sounds fabricated, but my great grandfather
actually died while out on his boat crabbing near his home in Willapa Bay.

Why is it always the sport guys that lose their share? IT'S BECAUSE WE
DON'T HAVE HUGE LOBBYING DOLLARS, AND WE ACTUALLY WORK AT OTHER JOBS WHILE
THINGS ARE BEING DECIDED IN OLYMPIA! I'd love to go to some of the
meetings on these subjects, but they are in Olympia, and I actually work
for a living. I can't take the time off and still support my family.

As I write this I can go down to my local grocery store and pick up some
Dungees for a mere $2.99 a pound. That's because it's commercial crab
season. I've seen it even lower than that. Econ wasn't my favorite
subject in college, but even I can see that there must be an excess of
supply to produce that kind of price. Crab doesn't need to be cheaper
than hamburger in the grocery store. It's that cheap because of
overharvesting on the part of the commercial guys. (commercial meaning
both tribal and non-tribal fisherman)

Now, about the tribal fishery. During the summer, while I was unable to
crab, I was told by my co-worker about that delicious crab he enjoyed that
weekend at the casino. "They practically give it away at the all-you-can
eat buffet" he said. I know, I know, we have a treaty. I know that the
tribes get half the crab. I know there's nothing WDFW can do about it. I
know that the commercial and sport guys split the rest. But why Puget
Sound? We are little guys. Can't we just leave one little area for us
sport guys? Couldn't we have less crab in the casino, and less crab all
winter, and let many people enjoy crabbing in the summer? Couldn't the
WDFW stop kow-towing to both the commercial and tribal fishermen, and
actually do what's best for the greatest number of people? I would expect
the WDFW to actually try to broker a deal with the tribes and commercial
fisherman, but instead, they don't even support a buyback of the
commercial licenses.

What I find even more remarkable is the poor way in which crabbing is
managed overall. I have spoken with biologists, and other people at the
WDFW, and I have even poured over the soft shell data that I had them send
me. I even threw it into an Excel spreadsheet. THERE IS NO MOLTING TREND
FOR CRAB FROM AREA TO AREA! I'm not sure who decided that crab in one
area all decide to molt at the same time, but they are wrong. Someone
needs to let the crab know that they need to move from area 8.2 to area
8.1 during certain times of the year when they are molting. Here's a
radical concept.... Crab molt when they get too big for the shell they
are in. They don't molt because of water temperature, food, reproduction,
or because they feel like it. This means that you can find softshell crab
at any time throughout the year. From Alaska to Canada, I have found
softshell crab during all times of the year. Washington crab are not
special!

I also remain extremely skeptical about WDFW's claims about softshell
mortality, but neither I, nor WDFW have sufficient data to draw any
conclusions. What is the sample survey that numbers like 6.7% motality
rate, and 6.8% cannibal rate are based on? How many crab were actually
sampled, and how were these things actually measured? Did they have a
control group? Do they actually know what the mortality rate is in the
wild, and is this any higher? Does WDFW know how to perform a
statistically valid scientific suvey at all?

Do we even care if I get a softshell crab? No, they're just fine to eat.
We do it all the time in Alaska. Even if the WDFW's figure of 20% vs. 25%
weight of meat per crab on soft and hard shells is accurate, who cares?
What's five percent? Let's make it similar to what they do on razor
clams, just make everyone keep every legal sized crab caught. Why isn't
that done? It's because of the commercial guys. Commercial guys throw
their softshells in the dumpster when they get home, because wholesalers
don't want to buy the softshells. Sport guys don't do that, but we are
restricted in what can be caught when, and where, because that's the way
the commercial fisherman want it, therefore that's the way WDFW wants it.

I'm not even going to get into the details of absurd things like catch
record cards, increased licensing fees, gear restrictions, amazingly
confusing regulations, shifting openings, and poor communication on the
hotline, and web page. Suffice it to say that WDFW has good biologists
and employees that are genuinely interested managing resources well, but
it seems to be run by a bunch of bureacrats that just want to keep adding
regulations, and pander to the tribes and commercial fisherman.

In general, the WDFW has completely abandoned the sport crabber, and we
can be certain that we will soon have no crab season at all. All this is
happening while WDFW even admits that crab stocks are perfectly healthy.
Unfortunately, we just don't have sufficient lobbying, or organization to
do anything about it. I guess sport crabbing will soon be a thing of the
past. I'll take my daughter to the grocery store, or the casino if we
want to get crab. I'm sure that will be just as good an experience.
Thanks WDFW, you are truly a sportman's advocate.

Sincerely,

Ross Holeman
425-770-1287
ross@w-link.net

[rogerbum]

[rogerbum]

Just a couple of quick notes to bring this thread back up to the top.

1) I emailed the director of the Washington Deparment of Fish and Wildlife to suggest that:
a) Shortening the days/week of crabbing would likely not extend the season as people would simply focus more effort towards the beginning of the season (as has happened with shrimp) and
b) to suggest an individual quota/recreational crabber

Sent the email on Jan 17th. Here we are 13 days later, no response, NADA. Not even an automated reply..... Didn't expect anything immediately but thought I'd at least get a polite reply within a couple of weeks...

2) "Locally caught, live Dungeness Crab" from the Puget Sound will go on sale in Feb at Central Market for $3.99/lb. It seems that the commercial guys must be over harvesting if I can buy crab that cheaply at the store. Every pound of crab sold this way is lost revenue for the state relative to what would happen if it harvested by a recreational guy...

Maybe it wouldn't hurt if the directors of WDF got a few more emails.... If those don't get any reply, my state legislator is the next step.

Roger on the SeaDNA

[en_pissant]

Hey Roger,

Any luck on a response from WDFW? Nice to see our tax dollars at work.

I worked for the State of Alaska for two years, and we would have had to respond in some fashion well within that time period. I've never been impressed with any facet of the state government here in Washington.

The Reel News that I picked up at the boat show had an article entitled "Crab Wars" in their January issue. www.therealnews.com. It sounds like there are some other folks out there that are trying to do something about the crabbing. They reference a lobbyist named Corey Freeman at 360-480-6646. I called about offering some help, and a contribution, but haven't heard anything back yet.

Looks like they are surreptitiously reducing the shrimp season as well. They are lumping all the locations together so that you can't hit Hood Canal, then Elliot Bay, then Edmonds. Thanks WDFW.

This stuff makes me want to purchase aviator glasses, a hooded sweatshirt, and a small cabin in the woods. I guess I wouldn't get to go out on my C-Dory though.

[SENSEI]

About a week ago I emailed the WA ST. Fisheries about the crab season and what the proposals are. Here is the response I recieved today.

No crab seasons have as yet been set for the inland waters of Puget Sound, but there are several proposals before the WDFW Commission, including changes to the daily limit and the number of days per week open for crab harvest. Those interested in commenting on Puget Sound crab-management strategies can do so at a special Commission meeting, dedicated exclusively to that subject, on May 14, starting at 9 a.m. at the Tyee Center, 5757 Littlerock Road, S.E., Tumwater. Anyone wishing to testify before the commission must sign up by 11 a.m. that day.

As you can see, there was absolutely no mention of what the proposals are.

[starcrafttom]

for more info on th crabbing I would check out the P.S.A web site.

[rogerbum]