Went out today to do some Blackmouth fishing at Possession and got quite angry seeing all the commercial crabbers out fising in Everett. They had pots all over from the mouth of the river out around the jetty and clear down the shoreline to the ferry in Mukilteo. I would bet there was over 300 pots out there today. And this is all going on when our season is closed and you can bet they're getting a whole lot more than the recreational fishers got. Sign those petitions folks, we're getting screwed.
Fishing for blackmouth was good. We fished at Possession and Pt no Pt and there was a good bite at the low slack for about an hour. Nice sized fish too. We kept two at 10 and 11 lbs. Weather was gorgeous not a ripple on the water.

So were these tribal commercials or non-tribal...... Either way it really angers me.... This has GOT TO STOP!!!
Time for a rally or something folks... We cannot crab "due to unsustainable stocks" but these guys can harvest? Who is the arse-hole that okay'd this?????

MC

All those potts are right in OUR FACES every time you leave the breakwater launching at Everett. In addition to the frustration over the % catch for recreational crabbers, its getting to be unsafe and the Coast Guard or the WDF need to do something about it.

Do not forget that the WDFW closed all sports crabbing since we supposedly caught over 300,000 lbs TOO MUCH crab in areas 8-1 and 8-2....Furthermore, the area between Everett and Mukilteo has been a sports only area. The tribes are thumbing their noses at the state and refuse to honor the sports only zones. Good luck catching crab in those areas when the tirbes get done. Your sports crabbing seasons are planned for next year to be far shorter than this year due to the fact that YOU, the sportsman, harvested too much. You are given scraps from the table and that is TOO MUCH!!!....This has got to be challenged. Please go to the crab petition at the top of the list of threads and sign it if you have not already. Plan on being in Port Townsend the weekend of Dec 5th and 6th to protest this incredibly unfair situation. GET MAD

Grandpa,

I signed the petition at the PSA meeting this week. I think this will be an interesting test regarding our groups ability (PSA) to be effective at leveraging the state.

Grandpa, you made a great point about the sports only crabbing area. I forgot to mention that in my original post. The are from Everett to Mukilteo is supposed to be sports only and yesterday there was a ton of pots along that whole mile and a half of beach. When we came in at 1pm, there was four boats working pots over there. This is outrageous. And they say we caught 300,000 lbs more, yea right. I'm sure it's probably the other way around as the commercials have been fishing out there all year. At least I see them every time I go out. I'm damned mad. Course you know they have to provide for their "all you can eat crab nights at the casino's."

The pots in 8-2 are tribal. I believe the rec. only designation for Port Gardner was only in effect for one or two years. Even then some of the tribal members got around it by setting only the two pots per person they were allowed for personal use. I believe the Utsulaty area is the only place in area 8-1 or 8-2 that has a rec. only designation now. As for me, I dont order crab when dinning out. Nor lingcod, rockfish or halibut for that matter. Just my small part to not create a demand.

And although everytime I rant about things like what you say above I am classed as a "racist", I think it ads credibility to my complaints about the tribe. People always say "there is nothing we can do about the treaties" and that may ring true to many, but when it comes to enforcement of rules the treaties do not exclude the tribes from those rules (their leaders agree with those rules when put in place). They generally aren't enforced for the tribes because the powers that be do not want to be accused of "picking on" the poor indians.....
This really has got to stop, and thank God for Aunty and G'Pa and their work on the petiitons... I can only hope that it does some good.... It's going to take a lot of heat though to get the state to start enforcing the rules on the tribes that are already in place, let alone implement new ones and enforce them!

MC