Conditions described here were accurate only as of the date shown and may have changed. This is not a substitute for current official information from the agency with jurisdiction. See the full notice. Full notice.
Winter Crabbing Opens October 1 in Seven Puget Sound Areas
Seattle, Tacoma, Deception Pass and south Sound stay closed for now. Summer catch cards are due Thursday.
Recreational crabbing reopens Thursday, October 1, in seven Puget Sound marine areas, seven days a week through December 31. They are Marine Area 4 east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line, 5, 6, 7 North, 7 South, 9, and the part of 12 in Hood Canal north of Ayock Point.
Several areas are not opening. Marine Areas 10 (Seattle and Bremerton) and 11 (Tacoma and Vashon) stay closed because little of the catch quota is left after summer; the department will decide whether a winter fishery is possible once summer catch reports are in. Areas 8-1 and 8-2, around Deception Pass, Skagit Bay, Port Susan and Port Gardner, stay closed for now because of softshell crab. Marine Area 13 and Hood Canal south of Ayock Point stay closed all winter for poor abundance.
The limits are unchanged: five Dungeness a day, males only, hard-shell, at least 6 1/4 inches across the carapace, plus six red rock crab of either sex at 5 inches and six Tanner crab at 4 1/2 inches. Traps can be set or pulled from a boat only from an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset. Crabbers 16 and older need a license and the Puget Sound Dungeness endorsement, and winter catches go on the free winter catch record card, due February 1, 2027.
Summer catch record cards are due October 1 whether or not you kept a crab. Miss it and you pay a $10 penalty on next year's endorsement.
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