This season’s opportunity remains the same as last year’s, but how Puget Sound sport crabbers report their success will be different.
As with last year, Whatcom County crabbers will have the longest wait until their home waters open: Marine Area 7 East on July 18 and Marine Area 7 North on Aug. 15.
But when they do, no longer will personal use crab catches be reported on the all-in-one catch record card with salmon sturgeon, steelhead and halibut.
In 2007, caught crab get their own report cards and not just one, but two; a first card good for the summer season and a separate tally card for the fall/winter stint.
While you must still immediately write down (in ink) retention of any male hardshell Dungeness crab of requisite size on your card in the field, posting via snail mail won’t be the only option for finishing up a report this year.
There are now provisions for on-line reporting that can be done on a Web page that will be available at the department’s Internet site. The Web address will be printed on both catch cards.
First filings or reports for the summer season take must be made by Sept. 15. Fall/winter opening catches must be reported by Jan. 15.
To encourage compliance with the rule, all sport crabbers meeting the timely reporting deadlines will have their names tossed into a hat for a chance for one of 20 free 2008 combination fishing licenses to be given away.
With the timely reporting system getting more information to them quicker, department crab managers hope to reduce their reliance on telephone surveys to track and calculate the overall sport crab catch for comparison to allocations or quotas for each marine area.
If you don’t want to have to report your recreational crab takes, fish off in the ocean the Washington coast. The catch record card and reporting requirement have been scrubbed in marine areas 1-4.
All Puget Sound sport crabbers, age 15 and older, must pay for a $3 license endorsement fee in addition to an appropriate and valid 2008 Washington fishing license. Crabbers under the age of 15 get their crab catch cards free of charge.
The new Puget Sound crab catch cards will be on dealer counters by May 21. If you have already bought your 2008 fishing license with a Puget Sound crab endorsement, expect your catch cards to come in the mail by June 18. However, if your mailing address has changed, the department suggests you contact (360) 902-2464 to update your address to ensure you get your cards on time.
Don’t leave home to crab without them.
The Puget Sound daily bag limit for Dungeness crabs is five males, all hardened up, with shells wider than 6 1/4 inches. In addition crabbers may take six red rock crabs, either sex, with shells at least five inches wide.
Check the department’s 2007-2008 Fishing in Washington pamphlet on page 134 for the procedure to test hard-shell condition, where to place your caliper to measure for legal width and how to tell male from female Dungeness crab.