IMPORTANT NOTICE: ALL Puget Sound State Commercial Crab Regions are now CLOSED. As of 7:00 PM, Monday April 9th, 2012 All Puget Sound State commercial crab fishing was closed for the season.

2011-12 Puget Sound Commercial Crab Approved Emergency Regulation #12-53.

WAC 220-52-04600X Puget Sound crab fishery--Seasons and Areas.

Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-52-046,

(1) Effective 7:00 p.m., April 9, 2012, it is unlawful to fish for or possess Dungeness crab for commercial purposes in those waters of Puget Sound Crab Management Region 1 (which includes Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas 20A, 20B, 21A, 21B, 22A and 22B).

(2) Effective immediately, until further notice, it is unlawful to fish for or possess Dungeness crab for commercial purposes in those waters of Puget Sound Crab Management Region 2 West (which includes Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas 25B, 25D, and 26A-West), Puget Sound Crab Management Region 2 East (Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas 24A, 24B, 24C, 24D and 26A East), Puget Sound Crab Management Region 3-1 (which includes Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas 23A and 23B), Puget Sound Crab Management Region 3-2 (which includes Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas 23D, 25A and 25E), and Puget Sound Crab Management Region 3-3 (which includes Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas 23C and 29).

(3) Effective immediately until 7:00 p.m., April 9, 2012, it is permissible to fish for Dungeness crab for commercial purposes in the following areas:

(a) Those waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 20A between a line from the boat ramp at the western boundary of Birch Bay State Park to the western point of the entrance of the Birch Bay Marina and a line from the same boat ramp to Birch Point.

(b) Those waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 22B in Fidalgo Bay south of a line projected from the red number 4 entrance buoy at Cape Sante Marina to the northern end of the eastern most oil dock.

(c) Those waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 22A in Deer Harbor north of a line projected from Steep Point to Pole Pass.

WAC 220-52-04000N Commercial crab fishery—Lawful and unlawful gear, methods, and other unlawful acts.

Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-52-040,

(1) Additional area gear limits. The following Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas are restricted in the number of pots fished, operated, or used by a person or vessel, and it is unlawful for any person to use, maintain, operate, or control pots in excess of the following limits:

(a) No commercial gear is allowed in that portion of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 25A west of the 123 degrees 7.0 minutes longitude line projected from the new Dungeness light due south to the shore of Dungeness Bay.

WAC 220-69-24000Y Duties of commercial purchasers and receivers.

Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-69-240, effective October 1, 2011, until further notice, it is unlawful for any wholesale dealer acting in the capacity of an original receiver of Dungeness crab taken by non-treaty fishers from Puget Sound, to fail to report to the department the previous day’s purchases by 10:00 a.m. the following business day. Reports must be made by fax to (425) 338-1066 or by e-mail at crabreport@dfw.wa.gov, and must specify the dealer name, dealer phone number, date of delivery of crab to the original receiver, and the total number of pounds of crab caught by non-treaty fishers, by Crab Management Region or by Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area.

REPEALERS.

The following sections of the Washington Administrative Code are repealed effective immediately:

WAC 220-52-04600W Puget Sound crab fishery—Seasons and Areas (12-45).