State Shellfish Managers Set Crab Seasons

OLYMPIA - The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) today announced summer crab-fishing seasons for Puget Sound, starting June 1 with an early opening in Marine Area 13 south of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

Most other areas of the Sound will open for recreational crab fishing July 1, although two areas around the San Juan Islands open later in summer to protect molting crab.

Seasons for the upcoming fishery are posted on WDFW's website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/crab/ .

Rich Childers, shellfish policy lead for WDFW, said recent test fisheries indicate that Dungeness crab...