Great News! Crabbing Lawsuit is over

[Fishnut]

The commercial crabbing lawsuit is now over. It only took the judge an hour to toss the lawsuit!

[Salmonhawk]

That's great news fishnut, thanks for keeping us informed. Any other details such as why he came to such a quick decision.

[Nelly]

I spoke to Tony Floor who attended the proceedings in Judge McPhee's courtroom.
The Commercial Crabbers lawsuit consisted of two motions:

One, the decision by the Commission to re-allocate the resource in favor of recreational crabbers was "arbitrary and capricious".
Judge McPhee found that the WDFW and the Commission conducted a "exhaustive and thorough analysis" and denied the first motion.

The second motion contended that the Commission has "no authority to re-allocate" the crab resource.
Judge McPhee was quick to point out that the State of Washington does indeed have juristiction over natural resources, the Wildlife Commission is the arm of the State's authority in these matters and "that authority is recognized in this court".

Motion two denied, Case dismissed!

I pulled crab gear in October yesterday for the first time in 20 years! We cannot get back all the summer Sundays and winter crabbing denied us by the greed of the Commercial Crabbers but we can use this as a great success story moving forward.

Why do we have a recreational shrimp season that is only two or three days long?
Why can we only halibut fish for a few days in May?

The answer is the same for both questions. Commercial fishing's unfair and unequitable grip on the legislature and the resource.

Want more opportunity? Let's go fight for it! Join PSA and CCA and let's get our fish back!