|
|
| Coastal Commercial
Dungeness Crab Fishery Introduction
 |
Westport
Commercial Crab Fleet |
One
of the most important commercial fisheries in Washington,
the commercial Dungeness crab fishery has an average (1990-2002)
ex-vessel value of approximately $19.9 million. There are
228 Washington coastal commercial Dungeness crab license
holders with approximately 200 fishers who are active participants
in this highly competitive fishery. The season typically
starts on December 1 if WDFW pre-season shell condition
testing shows that the majority of the male crabs have recovered
from the fall molt period and runs through September 15.
The
main ports of landing for the coastal commercial Dungeness
crab fishery are Ilwaco, Chinook, Westport, Tokeland and
La Push where the economic impact of this fishery is substantial.
Status
of the Stocks
 |
Dungeness
Crab |
Dungeness
crabs exist in commercial quantities from Alaska to south
of San Francisco, California. Along the Pacific coast, Dungeness
crab live in the intertidal zone out to a depth of 170 meters.
Washington’s coastal commercial crab grounds extend
from the Columbia River to Cape Flattery near Neah Bay and
include the estuary of the Columbia River, Grays Harbor,
and Willapa Bay.
There
is no stock assessment work conducted on coastal crab populations.
Dungeness crab management on the coast is based on a minimum
size limit of 6 ¼ inches, prohibition of harvest
of female crab and a season closure during the primary male
molt period. The minimum size limit assumes that male crab
that are harvested have been sexually mature and have mated
at least once before reaching legal size. Male crabs 6 ¼
inches or larger are assumed to be harvestable surplus;
it is assumed that as much as 95% of the legal sized male
crabs are harvested annually. In order for crab to grow
they must shed their shell and expand to fill a new shell,
this is referred to as molting.
 |
Dungeness
Crab molting. |
During
the early stage of the molt period crabs are soft and vulnerable
to mortality due to handling; therefore, the coastal commercial
fishery is closed from September 15 to early December. A
Summer Fishery Management Plan
was implemented in June of 2000 to protect crab that molt
prior to the closure of the crab fishery in September. The
plan is based on an intensive on-board sampling program
designed to alert fishery managers if a large portion of
the population begins molting prior to September 15.
Management
Authority
Rather
than shifting the management of the coastal crab fishery
to a federal management plan, the U.S. Congress in 1997
granted the states of Washington, Oregon and California
jurisdiction to manage Dungeness crab fisheries outside
state waters (3 to 200 miles offshore). This expanded jurisdiction
enabled Washington to implement a pot
limitation program affecting all crab fishers in coastal
Washington waters beginning with the 1999-2000 season. This
move was an effort to slow the expansion of the fishery
that began in the mid-1980s. This rapid expansion lead to
an extremely competitive fishery where 50% of the season
total is landed in the first 3-4 weeks of the 9-month season.
In addition, in December 1994, Federal District Judge Edward
Rafeedie upheld tribal shellfish harvest rights in Washington,
ruling that Washington treaty tribes can harvest up to 50%
of the harvestable shellfish in their usual and accustomed
fishing grounds (U & A). Tribal U & A fishing grounds
encompass approximately 50% of the Washington coastline.
Harvest
 |
Unloading
Dungeness crab. |
Washington
coastal Dungeness crab landing data back to 1950 shows a
large fluctuation in harvest, ranging from a low of 2.5
million pounds in 1981 to a high of 25 million pounds in
2004-05 averaging at 9.5 million pounds. It is believed
that this large fluctuation in landings is not a result
of harvest patterns, but likely due to varying ocean conditions
including, water temperature, food availability, and ocean
currents.
Puget
Sound Commercial Crab Regulations and Information
|
|
|
