Glad you posted this. Our club has been very active in discussions on crab
quotas and allocations in Puget Sound. An agreement to impose a $3 fee for
money to go toward getting better catch data was negotiated and now the
state is reneging due to commercial pressure.
There is also a bill to be introduced in the legislature to gradually
phase out the commercials using a boat/license buyback system paid for by
sports dollars. I doubt this will go far either.
As strapped as this state is for money, you would think our leaders would
realize that any sports fishing generates at least 10 times the revenue as
any commercial fishery.
Gordon
"Gould 0738" wrote in message
...
The proposed 2005 Dungeness crab rules have been announced for Puget
Sound.

The bag limit has been reduced from six crabs to four, with crabbing
allowed
only on weekdays and a single day each weekend. It has become rather
predictable for sportsmen to get the short shrift when resources must be
allocated between
pleasure boaters, commercial crabbers, and the indigenous tribes.

The following email message (from Corey Freeman) is making the rounds

I received a call from Lisa Veneroso, crab person for WDFW, today with the
tenets of the Department's proposal for the 2005-2006 Puget Sound
Dungeness
crab recreational fishery. The proposal will be 4 days/week with only one
weekend day and a bag limit reduction from 6 to 4 SOUND WIDE. This is an
attempt to look like the Department is trying to increase opportunity and
take
the heat off without addressing the true problem: ALLOCATION INEQUITY.
This
proposal has to be vigorously opposed for several reasons. First, the
Department does not have accurate data in which to base their decisions
on.
Second, in Marine Areas other than 10 through 13 the problem can be fixed
by
adjusting the allocation levels to a more equitable level. Third, if the
bag
limit is reduced and the Department obtains accurate data that shows the
reduction was unwarranted the chance of regaining lost ground is virtually
impossible.



During negotiations that spawned the Puget Sound Dungeness Crab
Endorsement
Fee, there was an agreement that the Department would not adjust the
season
until at least after one full year of improved data. The Department is
now
backing out of that agreement and I expect the Department to oppose the
Puget
Sound Dungeness Crab Bill that will be introduced this session to deal
with the
allocation issue in the Puget Sound.



It is now time to stand up and let the Department and Commission know that
any
adjustments to the recreational crab season in the Puget Sound until the
allocation issue is addressed and the Endorsement Fee has gone through a
full
year providing more defensible and accurate data is unacceptable.



Commission Email Address:

Commission Mailing Address: 600 Capital Way NE

Olympia, WA 98501