Northwest Fishing Reports

Hi everyone,

Sorry this is a long post but please take the time to read it. It affects all of us who fish for Dungeness crab. Thanks in advance.

If you are not aware, (my guess is you are), with the State's approval in or around 2005 Tribal fishermen began setting their crab pots in Puget Sound waters, harvesting Dungeness crab about one month before the season opens to the rest of us. This has resulted in almost no remaining legal male Dungeness crab for the sport crab seasons.

In 1996 I began fishing for Dungeness crab in area 8-1 and 8-2. Every season we would go to our favorite spot, soak our pots for about an hour, then pull them up to find them literally full of huge keeper males every time. I'm sure you all remember those trips. I have pictures of pots with 40+ huge keepers in them. We would harvest our limits (usually just me and a buddy from work) and would release numerous limits of keeper males back to the water for another day. It was an absolute great fishery and not uncommon to harvest Dungeness crab that measured 7 ½ to 8 inches across the back.

In 2005 when the Tribal fishermen began harvesting crab a month before the sport season the impact was and has continued to be felt and our pots no longer net but a few keeper male crab after an all day soak. I am tired of this and am asking for your help.

If you agree, PLEASE write to Governor Gregoire today and ask her to change the crab season back to the way it was when the season opened to everyone at the same time. She has the power to change this. Today I sent her a detailed letter via email. Here is the web page you can go to, to write her: http://www.governor.wa.gov/contact/ . It’s easy and it might make a difference.

Here is the letter I sent Governor Gregoire today. I'm not the greatest writer but it's a start. Feel free to copy it and make it your own, if you like, and send her your letter or note today. Thanks everyone...


Dear Governor Gregoire,

I am writing to you to request your re-evaluation of the State of Washington’s agreement with local Tribes which allows them to begin harvesting Dungeness crab in Puget Sound waters one month before the sport crab season opens to the public.

I have lived in Washington State all of my 43 years and would never live anywhere else. My family and friends have enjoyed fishing for Dungeness crab in Puget Sound waters for over 10 years now and have looked forward to the season opener to enjoy this treasured fishery. In 2005 that all came to a screeching halt when the State of Washington decided to allow Tribal crab fisherman to begin harvesting Dungeness Crab in Puget Sound waters one month before the season opens to the public. I am speaking specifically about areas 8-1 and 8-1 however my guess is that this is happening throughout our State.

Allowing Tribal fishermen to begin harvesting Dungeness crab one month before the season opens to the public has a negative impact on all of us because in one month’s time, nearly every legal size male Dungeness crab is taken from the sea floor. I know this first hand because now our crab pots are producing nothing but female crab in this once flourishing area. It now takes all day on the water to maybe harvest one limit of legal male Dungeness crab. I was fine with the limit reduction from 7 crab per person to 5 but I struggle with the early Tribal season because they are taking literally thousands of crab before anyone else gets a chance to harvest a few. Does that sound right to you?

Simply put, when Tribal fisherman are authorized to harvest Dungeness crab one month before the sport season opens to the public, there are virtually no legal male crab left for the sport fishing community.

I would never present an issue without offering a solution so please consider this option; Please open the Dungeness crab season to Tribal, Commercial, and Sport Crab harvesters at the same time. This is how it used to be, and it allows everyone to have a fair and equal opportunity to harvest Dungeness crab.

Thank you so much for your consideration in this matter.

Respectively,

My name, address, and phone number.

Dave,this is a great idea. I will do my part as well. Thank you

I'll be sure to shoot her something....

Good looking out on letting us know about this..

Thanks Sam and Kevinb. I really believe that Governor Gregoire is not aware of how we all feel about this and how it impacts the sport fishing community. My guess is, not allot of sportsmen and women really know how to address this or know who to write to about this kinda stuff. I wrote WDFW Director Jeff Koenigs 2 years ago about this issue. He actually replied back twice by email stating the low male crab numbers weren’t because Tribal fishermen were out there before the sport season harvesting crab which is such a crock.

It is my hope that if several of us shoot the Governor a letter which is way too easy to do by going to the link I provided in my original post, maybe she will address it. Bottom line, I am tired of crabbing all day for the very few crab that are left behind by the Tribes, and I want it to stop. You guys rock! Thanks.

I hope this forum topic gets a bit more attention. Maybe I should have put it in a different section. Thanks again.

I hope we can keep this thread open and get more on board.
Thanks Dave:salut:

Maybe we should ask Marc Martin if it can be made into a sticky so it remains where everyone can see it and respond. Or Maybe Marc could put it in a better location. I don't know. I just want everyone to see it and address the issue.

Dave I too crab in 8.2 area .Not only are they gonna target Dungies but also the Red Rock crabs as well.So not only will the dungies be scarce but now the Red Rocks will be wiped out as well.I feel you when youre talking about a pot so heavy with keeper males that even last year I needed help bringing up loaded pots.
I too will send a letter to the Gov. It probably wont help but then it cant hurt either.I'm sick and tired of the USA giving up freebees to every sniveling crybaby.Those days are long past or should be.We unfortunately live in a very liberal state .
Great idea Dave.Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Dave,
Great post and I will get a note off to her asap; however, I wanted to give you some added info---

I have lived and crabbed on the south end of Camano Island for 25 years (+). I have always done good for Dungeness crab until a few years ago when (as you said) the tribal commercials had a ton of traps set from the south head to several miles up the beach at least a month before we could get on the water. At one time, they had as many as three different sets of buoys (various colors and markings) on top of each other.

The tribes can go out when the crabs come out of soft shell so they are fishing 4 to 6 weeks before us.

Last year was the worst and I tried all depths, from 20' to 200' and could only get 4" females.

This winter I called the WDFW in Mill Creek and spoke to the "crab biologist" and he said that they had moved the seasons to give us sport crabbers what we wanted--that is, to be able to crab from July 4th weekend thru Labor day weekend. One other reason for the 4 day a week reg's.

In fact I can remember one of our representatives to the state crab board, feeling good about getting the extended seasons and not realizing we were going to get screwed in the deal.

I sure want to hear from you and the other folks on this subject but are we our own worst enemy?

Thanks for bringing this up---RAHFISH

Join CCA and PSA

Great to hear you guys responding. This is definitely an issue that affects us. Also interesting to hear you spoke with WDFW and they say they “gave us what we wanted, an extended season with the 4th of July.” That sounds like such a crock but if it’s true, they need to change it back so we all crab at the same time. Heck, I don’t care when the season is, I just want the season to be plentiful, not sparse. I find it hard to believe the WDFW and other entities of WA State are not getting complaints just like ours every year since this has changed, therefore I believe the WDFW and State of WA know that the Tribal crabbers are catching the overwhelming majority of the Dungeness and as you mentioned now red rock crab. Bottom line, this is unfair to the sport crabbing community and the more the government agencies hear from us, the better. THANKS so much guys, outstanding. I really wish it could be addressed by our major news media. That might get the ball rolling. I would also like to see this thread in an area where all of our WALakes.com readers and visitors can view it. Any ideas are very welcome. Thanks again everyone.

Pictured is a pot I pulled in 2005 after a 1 hour soak in my favorite spot in 8-1. There are 33 males in this pot, all were keepers.

Dave,

Just letting you know I sent off a letter also. I think a lot of people on here would agree with you totaly, if they have spent any time at all crabbing. But unfortunately sometimes the thought of writing a letter just seems a little more effort than people want to put out. The link that Dave sent in the original post will take you right to the email start point.
To tell you the truth,, I even did a little bit of plagerizing (sp?) from your letter, and then added a little and took out a little.
Whatever.

Q,

Glad to hear you sent a letter off as well. I put my letter on the thread for just that reason. I figured some readers might want to get an idea as to what to write. So anyone reading this who wants to use my letter and personalize it for yourself, have at it. Lets keep it going. It may just make a difference. Also, anyone with media ties, please take this topic to that forum as well. I'll bet if King 5 News covered this issue, something would be done about it, or it would generate a large public response which would be fantastic. Thanks all.

Dave

hey guys i also sent a letter just 3 days ago, i agree with everyones concern and support my fellow sport fishermen/women. maybe things will change for the better of all of us

Thanks Chris. Check out the other forum on 2008 tribal crabbing. It looks like we might be in business for this coming season.

alright....got the ling jigs put away for another year....shrimp pots all wound up.....NOW THE CRAB!! thanks for the posts dave and the effort put forth on all our behalf...

now let's get those crab pots all tuned up.....

Rollin with Rolland wrote:alright....got the ling jigs put away for another year....shrimp pots all wound up.....NOW THE CRAB!! ...

now let's get those crab pots all tuned up.....

Can't wait to get out and drop pots for some dungies....They taste great and I think are fun to catch, even though you just pull the trap up....My buddies who don't fish or crab or anything LOVE crabbing. They love pulling em in and beg to check em every 30 minutes, when we need to soak them a 1/2 day at our spot. They also love fishing for dogfish....They've yet to think that dogfish are considered "trash fish" in the saltwater, they see them as sharks and love taking photos with the ones they catch.......

Here's what me and my dad pulled last summer one morning...Only picture of crab I have???

Just sent a simmilar letter, have not been crabbing in sevral years due to the low -low numbers of male keeper, who wants to pay
to consistantly go home just to stare at an empty pot, thinking of just 4 or five years ago when you had to release 20+ crab and that's per person.

Bman03

I just sent a letter also. We had pretty good luck last year for Dungies but this stuff PI$$ES me off. I have been serving in the service for 11 years now and Washington needs to get off their liberal A$$ when it comes to things of this matter. How long does a group have to pay penance????? I am all for people political opinions but give me a break......................... By the way, my boat just took a crap on me so if anyone is looking for a partner to hit the opening day my daughter and I would love to tag along. PM me.

Thanks to every one of you who took the time and made the effort to make a difference. You all rock! Big time…..

off to find the dungies...best of luck to anyone heading out, and be safe out there!!