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Puget Sound Sport
Crabbing
Crabbing is one of
Puget Sound’s most popular recreational fisheries. Each year, sport
fishers catch more than a million pounds of Dungeness crab, using pots,
ring nets and – in the case of wade and dive fishers – their
bare hands.
In addition to meeting
licensing requirements, everyone who fishes
for crab in Puget Sound must carry and complete catch
record cards to account for all Dungeness crab they catch. Recent
changes in the reporting system now in effect:
- Two-card reporting
system: All sport crabbers fishing in Puget Sound are required to
report their Dungeness crab catch on separate summer and fall/winter
catch record cards at the end of each season. The new cards are separate
from the multi-species card used for recording catches of salmon, halibut
and other fish. People of all ages who have a crab endorsement and received
a catch record card are required to make a report even if they did not
go crabbing or catch any crab.
- On-line reporting:
Sport crabbers can either report their information on the WDFW
crab reporting website or mail in their catch cards. The website
address for reporting crab catches is printed on the catch record card
along with reporting deadlines.
- No coastal reporting:
Catch record cards are required for those fishing for Dungeness crab
along the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound, which includes marine
area 4 (east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line) and marine areas 5-13. They
are not required along the coast, which includes marine areas 1-3 and
marine area 4 (west of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line).
Fishery managers rely
on individual catch record card reports to estimate recreational harvest
and to set future crabbing opportunities. By completing catch record cards,
fishers play a vital role in maintaining sustainable harvest opportunities.
Click
on the map below in the area where you want crab season
and limit information or scroll down for current season status by area
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