Illegal Crabbing In Puget Sound - Seattle Times

[MarkFromSea]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/l ... cation=rss

My sister passed this along to me, it's a good read.

Here's just the opening paragraph or so to wet the appetite:

Officer Chris Moszeter squatted on the deck of his 28-foot patrol boat and measured the shells of a bucketful of crab.

The fishermen idling alongside his Boston whaler watched uneasily as the state wildlife cop pushed aside several shellfish — ones so small the crabbers should have known they couldn't keep them.

"This one's not even close," Moszeter said, holding up a flailing Dungeness an inch shorter than legal size.

As more people have taken up crabbing in Puget Sound, those paid to police the harvest are noting an uptick in illegal activity.

From recreational fishermen who don't get licenses or ignore quotas and size limits to large-scale poaching by commercial or tribal fishermen, there is no shortage of crustacean scofflaws.

Just among recreational crabbers, "it's not uncommon to find violations on 50 to 80 percent of the boats we stop," said marine officer Erik Olson with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

[G-Man]

Quite sad I must say, yet spot on. Enforcement for this popular fishery is seriously lacking, I have never been checked nor have I seen anyone get checked. I was under the impression that part of our Puget Sound Dungeness crab enhancement fee was to go toward enforcement. I recall two seasons ago calling WDFW enforcement and 911 to report crab pots in the water 2 weeks after the season had closed, I got the same answer from both, "Sorry sir, we don't have a boat in the water today"! I guess they blew their budget on that 28' Boston Whaler, the least they could have done was buy a local product.

[ResQ]

Quite sad I must say, yet spot on. Enforcement for this popular fishery is seriously lacking, I have never been checked nor have I seen anyone get checked. I was under the impression that part of our Puget Sound Dungeness crab enhancement fee was to go toward enforcement. I recall two seasons ago calling WDFW enforcement and 911 to report crab pots in the water 2 weeks after the season had closed, I got the same answer from both, "Sorry sir, we don't have a boat in the water today"! I guess they blew their budget on that 28' Boston Whaler, the least they could have done was buy a local product.

Wow. It is VERY sad. Unfortunately it seems more and more people are partaking in recreational activites like hunting and fishing yet IGNORE the rules and regs. I was checked once last year only because they watched me fight a 5 foot plus dogfish! They were nice except the clipped my line at the hook on the dogfish before I could get a picture of the beast.

[MarkFromSea]

Quite sad I must say, yet spot on. Enforcement for this popular fishery is seriously lacking, I have never been checked nor have I seen anyone get checked. I was under the impression that part of our Puget Sound Dungeness crab enhancement fee was to go toward enforcement. I recall two seasons ago calling WDFW enforcement and 911 to report crab pots in the water 2 weeks after the season had closed, I got the same answer from both, "Sorry sir, we don't have a boat in the water today"! I guess they blew their budget on that 28' Boston Whaler, the least they could have done was buy a local product.

Agreed, a Hewescraft or other local welded aluminum makes for a better WORK boat and would keep more of our tax and license dollars in the state. This boat would serve their purpose: http://www.hewescraft.com/mid-size-ocea ... ?p=1.1.4.2 or, I like this one better: http://www.hewescraft.com/mid-size-ocea ... ?p=1.1.4.1 The 22' hardtop model

ResQ, they should have had better manners than that. Don't they know to "NEVER poke another man's fire" unless asked to do so?

[natetreat]

Quite sad I must say, yet spot on. Enforcement for this popular fishery is seriously lacking, I have never been checked nor have I seen anyone get checked. I was under the impression that part of our Puget Sound Dungeness crab enhancement fee was to go toward enforcement. I recall two seasons ago calling WDFW enforcement and 911 to report crab pots in the water 2 weeks after the season had closed, I got the same answer from both, "Sorry sir, we don't have a boat in the water today"! I guess they blew their budget on that 28' Boston Whaler, the least they could have done was buy a local product.

Wow. It is VERY sad. Unfortunately it seems more and more people are partaking in recreational activites like hunting and fishing yet IGNORE the rules and regs. I was checked once last year only because they watched me fight a 5 foot plus dogfish! They were nice except the clipped my line at the hook on the dogfish before I could get a picture of the beast.

Why did they cut your line on a dogfish? That doesn't make any sense. Did they think it was a sixgill? Were they just impatient and wanted to check you faster? It's totally legal to fish for dogs.

[natetreat]

It's no surprise to me. Maybe they will realize that crab season and salmon violations are a cash cow and put more gamies out there to keep these yonkers in check. All they have to do is drive up and down the green, puyallup and snohomish and run around in the bay to get BANK for our broke as dirt state. AND save our wildlife! Down at the puke there is a line of 100 guys that would be full of 80 percent violations. But crab is one of the worst. I can't count all the crab I've brought in that had had their claws ripped off, male and females alike. I've seen and called enforcement on asians and russians filling five gallon buckets full of every crab that comes up in the ring. Fishing at the same time and throwing salmon, dogfish and anything else that bites including rockfish in the cooler. It's a blatent and selfish disregard for the rules and well being of our ecosystem. It's no wonder that they're running out of fish in the mekong and the danube is a filthy pile of heavy metals mud. Convservation is a distinctly modern and wholly unpopular attitude. I'm not racist but it would be interesting to go through all the violations and see the percentage that actually speak english. I follow the rules and most of the time when I see newbs out there and tell them that they forgot to crimp their barbs, or that the size for crab is 6 3/4 or that they can't keep the beauty of a ling they just caught, they are embarrassed that they didn't know, thank me for the information and gladly accept the spare game laws I keep in my backpack for future reference.

I guess folks in boats feel like they can get away with it because they're all by themselves on the water. What makes them think they have the right to, on the other hand, is the most discouraging comment on our society.

[tommytitan08]

Cmon nate its not just the foreigners that poach.....i will bet on any given day that they hand out more tickets to people that speak english than do not. Poaching is not a crime committed by any specific race but its more a crime of opportunity and greed.

[jens]

Cmon nate its not just the foreigners that poach.....i will bet on any given day that they hand out more tickets to people that speak english than do not. Poaching is not a crime committed by any specific race but its more a crime of opportunity and greed.

Well said. An inspiration to all.

[MarkFromSea]

The thing I'm guilty of is not filling out the CRC most ricky tick. I usually wait till I have my limit of crab so I only have to break out the pen once. It is illegal to do so, I'm taking my chances of getting a ticket, it would be a shame if I was ticketed for it, seeing that I follow the rest of the regs.

Is there some sort of study to support or dismiss the race issue? I really don't know. At this point, I really don't care. I think we can agree on this: getting enforcement to the locations that these gross violations are being committed should be our goal. Gotta be "culture" blind though.

My neighborhood was just sucked up into the vacuum called Kirkland. Their cops are trouncing on any driver doing a couple miles over the limit, clearing vehicles that have been parked a while in one spot, in general, letting everyone know that there is a new sheriff in town. On the one hand, I dislike the police state that this represents. On the other hand, the streets might be safer as a result. I'm guilty of occasionally driving a little over the limit, it is illegal to do so, I'm taking my chances of getting a ticket, it would be a shame if I was ticketed for it, seeing that I follow the rest of the regs.

Here's a question: If local cops enforced game laws as ferociously as they do traffic laws, would this be an imposition to those of us that follow the regs? For me, it depends on how often they disrupt my fishing. But, I think they should try and see how it goes.

[Rich McVey]

Here's a question: If local cops enforced game laws as ferociously as they do traffic laws, would this be an imposition to those of us that follow the regs? For me, it depends on how often they disrupt my fishing. But, I think they should try and see how it goes.

Well, I dont want to be pulled over for no reason if I have not violated any rules... car or boat.

[racfish]

I have to agree with the lack of regular enforcements on crabbing. If you notice how state Govt works is that they mention cutbacks and all of a sudden the wardens arent at Krispy Kremes and are out there actually working. If the state wasnt cutting back then you would not have seen the same article. The Times makes them into mighty warriors.I pretty much crab the same spot on Camano. To this day I have never been checked nor have I seen wardens check anyone at the public launch I go to. Sometimes the worse poachers are homeowners on the wtrfnt. Im not saying all. My neighbor last week showed his 20 crabs that he and his buddy got. All dungies. Go figure. Some were male some were female. He told me in Anacotes hes never been checked. The whole system needs a lil revamping. Maybe have a quota for gamies.. Sorry to dog the state but they do it to themselves.

[G-Man]

A question I have is why aren't the fish checkers given the power to write citations? Is it really that big of a deal? Heck they never check the crab I bring in nor do they check the bottom fish. How about fish and game check points near the launches like they set up during hunting season? They need to do something other than just sit on their hands and shaft those of us who follow the law as best we can.

As for checking me while I'm fishing, no problem, just don't be a jerk about it like the guy who patrols Lake Washington. People who fish and abide by the regs usually can't wait to show off their catch to anyone, including a gamie.

[MarkFromSea]

Good points! I've never kept a female dungie so I don't understand your neighbors mentality Rac.

On the fish checkers, they collect data, the state wants people to give them data freely, if they wrote tickets some wouldn't cooperate as freely. I am surprised that fish checkers don't collect data on some of the crab and bottom fish though.

I'm for greater enforcement in order to protect our resource. I agree, they don't need to be jerks about it. If the lines are in on riggers, showing my license from a distance should be good to go. If I'm already stopped pulling a pot, welcome aboard gamie, bring me some freebies and check my cooler if you like. Give me some pointers on where the better crabbing is.

[natetreat]

Good points! I've never kept a female dungie so I don't understand your neighbors mentality Rac.

On the fish checkers, they collect data, the state wants people to give them data freely, if they wrote tickets some wouldn't cooperate as freely. I am surprised that fish checkers don't collect data on some of the crab and bottom fish though.

I'm for greater enforcement in order to protect our resource. I agree, they don't need to be jerks about it. If the lines are in on riggers, showing my license from a distance should be good to go. If I'm already stopped pulling a pot, welcome aboard gamie, bring me some freebies and check my cooler if you like. Give me some pointers on where the better crabbing is.

I see it like they shouldn't be jerks about it. When they checked me on baker lake it was a 15 minute ordeal, reeling up the rigger, bring around the gear, try and sit still in our little kayak, rummage for the license. They were really nice about it, but it can be a hassle. But I'm glad they did it. I bet if they put a quota on citations and put more gamies out there we could pay for our WDFW twice over with fines. There are so many violations out there. I can't even count the amount of barbed hooks I've pulled up from the bottom on the Skok and Puke, how manty buckets of undersized and female crabs I've seen and people out there snagging fish, even carp and boot kings on the wallace.

It's not just the minorities that do it, it's everyone. There is a mentality of sportsmen out there that scoff at our rules. One because there are so dang many of them and two because they think that they won't get caught. It's selfishness and disrespectful and just plain shameful. I would have no problem getting checked everytime I go out. When they have a budget crisis I have no pity for them, they could be makiung bank just by doing their jobs.

[knotabassturd]

From the article:

"Earlier this year, the Puyallup Tribe quickly removed the head of its shellfish program after Fish and Wildlife officers found he had sold thousands of crab to commercial buyers without reporting them against the tribe's quota."

WOW! And I hear about the lax Native Amercian enforcement.

Removing the head of the shellfish program manager for doing stuff on the sly is heavy punishment (hmm, can only guess how LONG that has gone on considering how big the #s are)!!! Hope they were at least civil enough not to display his head in public.

And at least it says they did it quickly. That's a tuff penalty.

[natetreat]

Hahahahahahahaha! Ridiculous. I guess they are a sovriegn nation so capital punishment could be a culturally accepted way to deal with poachers. They really take their natural resources seriously.

[knotabassturd]

Nothing like the english language to play with. Although I guess they said shellfish department and not shellfish department manager.

[natetreat]

Sheesh, that's a lot of heads for one guys bad attitude.

[MarkFromSea]

It's not just the minorities that do it, it's everyone. There is a mentality of sportsmen out there that scoff at our rules. One because there are so dang many of them and two because they think that they won't get caught.

I second that motion, on both points.

[MarkFromSea]

From the article:

"Earlier this year, the Puyallup Tribe quickly removed the head of its shellfish program after Fish and Wildlife officers found he had sold thousands of crab to commercial buyers without reporting them against the tribe's quota."

This one struck a nerve! We've, or at least I have, heard the rumors of the tribes doing this very thing for decades, not reporting what they caught. The rumor is true! I'm glad to see that the state finally had the balls to investigate and call them on it. Kudos to WDFW on the save. Now, what is the penalty for the criminal action?