The Outdoor Line Forum

As many of you guys already know, the commercial crab industry is now suing to overturn the commission's decision to slightly increase the recreational side of the crab allocation. One of the things that they are citing is the supposed rules that are broken by recreational crabbers. It's now coming to light that any rule breaking that may take place in the rec crab fishery pales in comparison to the commercial industry. Here is a letter that CCA has sent to the Commission to outline some of these violations:

April 7, 2011

Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission
600 Capital Way North
Olympia, WA 98506

RE: Request for Review of Commercial Crab Compliance Record

Dear Commissioners:

Over the course of the last year, in a self serving attempt to thwart the reasonable and
moderate Puget Sound crab fishery management policy change considered and approved by
the Fish and Wildlife Commission, a group of commercial crab fishermen have seized upon
and manipulated recreational compliance data to suggest that rampant lawlessness prevails
within and among Washington’s recreational crabbers. Not only is that suggestion seriously
overstated and ultimately untrue, but in an ultimate act of hypocrisy, it appears that
Washington’s commercial crab industry is fraught with misconduct, lawlessness and
intentional violation of the laws that govern the commercial harvest of Dungeness crab.

We have secured preliminary WA Commercial Citations 2007-2011 to inform our
understanding of the serious compliance problems facing the commercial crab fleets. We
believe the Commission and Department should perform an evaluation of commercial crab
fishing violations, to evaluate whether current fines and penalties are sufficient to affect
commercial behavior, and to determine whether third party monitoring, or an education and
enforcement emphasis similar to that voluntarily commenced by the recreational crabbing
community, should be required of Washington’s commercial crab fishermen.

Commercial crab fishermen have testified, provided letters, and engaged in other
tactics to argue that Washington’s recreational crabbers do not comply with laws governing
the harvest and recording of crab. It is very much worth noting, that according to the WA
Citation Statistics 2007-2011, Washington commercial crabbers have, on multiple occasions,
been cited with every major category of harvest violation that recreational anglers have;
namely: (i) Retention of Undersized Crab, (ii) Retention of Female Crab, (iii) Retention of
Soft Shelled Crab, (iv) Overharvest of Crab, (v) Crabbing in a Closed Area, (vi) Gear
Violations, (vii) No Escape Mechanism on Crab Pot, and (viii) Failure to Document Crab.
While some of the recreational communities’ compliance shortcomings can be attributed to
transient or novice crabbers, there is no excuse for those who are on the water every day,
engaging in a commercial pursuit, to not know the laws and regulations that govern their
trade. To see scores of basic violations is troubling.

Even more troubling, however, are the egregious, intentional violations that appear to
be part and parcel of the culture of the commercial crab fishery. By way of example, the WA
Citation Statistics 2007-2011 show commercial citations for offenses including: (i) Felony
Possession of Undersized Crab, (ii) Over 500 counts of Wholesale Dealing Violations, (iii)
Multiple citations for Fishing More Than 50 Pots in Excess of the Permit, (iv) Unlawful
Commercial Fishing in the 2nd Degree, and (v) Possession of Stolen Property. And those
offenses to do not appear to include the worst tribal commercial citations: (i) Possession of
Stolen Property, (ii) Unlawful laying of Groundlines, and (iii) Intentionally throwing a crab
pot in front of a boat in an attempt to disable a patrol vessel. These are not isolated incidents.
The 2007-2011 Commercial Citation List is multiple pages, single spaced type.

Although the exact Puget Sound Commercial violation rate cannot accurately be
ascertained from the Citation List that has surfaced, it is rather shocking to think that an
industry with just 156 crab license owners could have racked up a compliance violation tally
sheet spanning multiple pages in just a few years time. We are also seriously concerned about
the multiplier effect that commercial violations can have on the Puget Sound Dungeness crab
resource. Commercial crab fishermen use bigger pots and more pots, than a recreational anger
is allowed to use. They harvest for monetary gain. And even with the adoption of the new
Commission Policy, non-tribal state commercial crab fishermen can be expected to harvest
more crab in Puget Sound this year than will the recreational community.

We ask the Commission to consider what the effect on the resource is when
commercial interests operate with the level of violations perpetrated by Washington’s
commercial fleets. We urge the Commission to take the steps necessary to secure the best
data available and to consider whether stiffer fines, third party monitoring, and/or increased
education and enforcement emphasis are necessary within the commercial sector. As you
may know, recreational fishing organizations are working with the Department on expanded
outreach, education, enforcement and derelict crab pot removal efforts to improve recreational
compliance and sustainability. We are also working with the Legislature to enact another
significant increase to the Puget Sound crab recreational endorsement fee to actually fund
these activities. We are unaware of any such efforts on the part of the commercial fishery.
We appreciate your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,
Bryan Irwin
Regional Executive Director

cc: Director Phil Anderson,WDFW
Rich Childers, WDFW
Ron Garner, Puget Sound Anglers

That is a good letter and I applaud the folks involved in doing the research and following through.

The one thing that chaps my ass about the commercial’s representation of the recreational crabber is the assertion that 60% of us are crooks, and scofflaws. It is true the rate of return on crab catch cards is abysmal and it is also true that many of the sport crabbers checked for violation were found with some sort of violation.

WSP and other law enforcement agencies use their training, observation, tips, etc, to target specific individuals when enforcing the DUI laws in Washington. I’m guessing a goodly percentage of the drivers pulled over for suspicion of DUI are in fact driving under the influence; let’s say that number is 50%. Using the commercial crabber’s logic that would mean 50% of all drivers in Washington are driving under the influence.

WDFW enforcement, based on training, observation, tips, etc, target specific individuals when looking for crabbing and other F&G violations and they likely have a very high “success” rate and it may be as high as 60% of the people checked have some sort of violation, but that hardly equates to 60% of all sport crabbers.

As indicated in the letter, CCA, PSA and other organizations are voluntarily working with WDFW for the purpose of expanded outreach, education, enforcement and derelict crab pot removal efforts to improve recreational compliance and sustainability. I consider these actions taking the high road; I don’t much care for mudslinging. That said, it’s nice to see some slung back in the other direction for a change.

I have to say that I continue to be very impressed by the watchful eye and effective actions of the CCA.
I'm very proud to call myself a member and the CCA's comtinued involvement in the fisheries of the Pacific Northwest is just one of the reasons that I'm very hopeful for the future of fisheries management in the State of Washington!

Well said Bear

Is this why my crab indorcement looks not differently than it has in years past? I was surprised to see the same dates (July to Sept). I thought the seasons opened up for us rec guys.

I'm not the biggest crabber in the west but I've recently started to enjoy the sport and was excited to hear about some of the new rules mentioned on the show.

keep me (us) posted