With the crab closed now do any of you fell that we got the short end of the stick again.It seemes odd that WDFW just shut down area 11 to 6 saying that us sporties have caught our limit.I just don't think we did.

Of course we lost again.

I think you're missing the point; crab regulations don't seem to be about catches or conservation; they're about revenue and fear of the tribes and commercials.

Like it or not, behind the scenes it appears to me the tribes run the show. Tribal decisions are "approved" by the State.

The State is scared to death of the tribes and will shut down any fishery if there is a chance of complaints from the tribes. Crab is lucrative to the tribes. They want it all. Commercials too.

On the other hand, the State has to sell licenses to keep their revenue stream going. Since they have virtually shut down salmon fishing in the summer, all they have to sell in the summer is the chance to crab.

The odd thing is I noticed the crabs seemed a little better in the fall and early winter as far as size and firmness, before the molt. They didn't seem as good during the summer after they had just molted. So from my perspective, the summer season is not optimal.

I expect you will only see crabbing allowed during the summer to protect the license revenue stream. As soon as silver fishing comes along, crabbing is going to be shut down. The State can use silver fishing to sell licenses.

I don't think crabbing will last much longer in its current form. Commercials and tribes want the money and they have the power. Look for serious limit and season reductions for sporties - something like 2 crab per day on weekends only during summer months only until it goes away completely for sporties.

Look at what happened to shrimp. The sporties accepted virtual elimination of the season without much protest. And sporties continue buying licenses, no matter what the cost or season restrictions. That's the most important part if you're a high paid state administrator with a budget problem.

If you want to fish and crab, you need to relocate. The Washington State resources have already been spoken for, and not by the sporties.

Sad to say, in the end it is all about money in this state. We lost out a long time ago to every other user group - netters, commercials, tribals, etc.

Maybe the State will allow catch and release for crab.