Heres another topic to get us all steamed! As if we don't have enough commercial fishing going on in Puget Sound that has ruined entire types of fish around the South Sound. Can any of you young guys on this board ever recall catching a Pollack cod at the claybanks? Used to be you could not help but get one on the hook if you stopped at the bottom for more than a few seconds.
Well, many of us know a few places and I mean a few places in the south sound that you could actually catch some nice Dungeness crab with a little patience. Well that is soon to disappear with the introduction of the Natives commercial season on crab here. Espescially the Nisqually tribe, they have stated that they are going to participate in the fishery. They do have some limitations, but they are small and you know how the Dept. of Wildlife can enforce these.
How long will the rest of the species survive this onslaught? There is an article in the Wednesday News Tribune on this fishery to take place.


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Steve Ng....The FishNg1
99 F-350 Powerstroke 4x4 , 18ft Alumaweld Formula Vee Sled, 115 Yamaha.

In the article they quoted wdfg personal saying that they really don't know the extent of the population in the south sound. Now to me how can they warrant a commercial fishery. In the areas such as Quartermaster (where I live) or Wollochet Bay even with a 30 pot limit will completely wipe out these small isolated fisheries within a week. You lay 100 pots in Quartermaster and it would be over in a day or two.I think in reality considering pot loss HEHE and bait and beer the natives will find this fishery economically unfeasible

There goes the neighborhood! Where's the "best science" in this decision?

My best guess is that as a result of this, daily limits for recreational crab harevest will be cut in half if the tribal fishery is a financal sucess. The other down side is that the few places of areas 11 & 13 that are good, well known spots will be fished out even earlier in the year.

You can bet that if they are allowed a commercial crab harvest that in no time there won't be any legal crabs left. I crab out of kyak point and was doing really well till the commercials moved in, after that I couldn't hardly find a legal crab. When will it end?.