6/6/2007 11:10:00 AM Sport crabbing gets earlier start off Port Townsend
Starting June 27, crab fishing in Marine Area 6 opens Wednesday through Saturday, a week before the date published in WDFW’s 2007-08 sport fishing pamphlet. - File photo by Patrick J. Sullivan
Sport crabbers will be able to start fishing a week earlier than previously scheduled in the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca under a joint fishery management plan recently approved by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and area treaty tribes.
Starting June 27, crab fishing in Marine Area 6 opens Wednesday through Saturday, a week before the date published in WDFW's 2007-08 sport fishing pamphlet.
This area includes waters from Point Wilson near Port Townsend to Low Point, west of Port Angeles, including Discovery Bay, Sequim Bay and Port Angeles Harbor.
Port Townsend Bay, however, opens to sport crabbing July 4.
The earlier starting date was the result of a shellfish-management plan recently negotiated with area tribes, said Rich Childers, WDFW shellfish policy coordinator. The department negotiates similar plans with more than two dozen treaty tribes every year, he said.
Starting June 18, crab fishing opens seven days a week in the western Strait of Juan de Fuca and southern Puget Sound. Most other marine areas open July 4 on a Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule, although some waters north of Anacortes will not open until later in summer.
Childers said the Fishing in Washington rules pamphlet posted on WDFW's website (http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/fishregs.htm) will be updated to reflect the new June 27 starting date for the recreational crab fishery in Marine Area 6.
With that change, this year's recreational crab-fishing schedule for Puget Sound is as follows:
• June 18: Marine areas 4 (Neah Bay east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line), 5 (Sekiu) and 13 (south Puget Sound) opens seven days per week through Jan. 2, 2008.
• June 27: Marine area 6 (eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca including Discovery Bay) opens Wednesdays through Saturdays only, plus the entire Labor Day weekend, and closes the evening of Sept. 3 for a catch assessment.
• July 4: Marine areas 7 South (San Juan Islands), 8-1 (Deception Pass to East Point), 8-2 (East Point to Possession Point), 9 (Admiralty Inlet), 10 (Seattle/Bremerton), 11 (Tacoma/Vashon) and 12 (Hood Canal) opens Wednesdays through Saturdays only, plus the entire Labor Day weekend, and closes the evening of Sept. 3 for a catch assessment.
• July 18: Marine Area 7 East (Bellingham and Samish bays) opens Wednesdays through Saturdays only, plus the entire Labor Day weekend, and closes the evening of Sept. 29 for a catch assessment.
• Aug. 15: Marine Area 7 North (Lummi Island/Blaine) opens Wednesdays through Saturdays only, plus the entire Labor Day weekend, and closes the evening of Sept. 29 for a catch assessment.
All areas open at 7 a.m. on the dates noted.
As in previous years, the daily catch limit in Puget Sound is five Dungeness crab, males only, in hard-shell condition with a minimum carapace width of 6¼ inches. In addition, fishers may catch six red rock crab of either sex per day, provided those crab measure at least 5 inches across.
All crab fishers age 15 or older must carry a current Washington fishing license. In addition, all Puget Sound crabbers - regardless of age - must obtain a crab-licensing endorsement and record their catch on a catch record card. For more information on the Puget Sound crab fishery, see http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/shelfish/crab/index.htm.
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