Like clockwork, boats began to fill up the slips in Birch Bay Village in the days leading up to Aug. 15. The marina reaches near-capacity each year on the eve before one of the biggest days on the Birch Bay calendar: the opening of the recreational crab season.
The bay is part of Marine Area 7 North, the last zone in Washington interior waters to open each year, and is open for crabbing Thursdays through Mondays until the season closes on Sept. 30.
The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife has set the daily catch limit of the area at five male Dungeness crab, six Red Rock crabs of either sex and six Tanner crabs of either sex.
Marine Area 7 South, which includes Bellingham Bay and the San Juan Islands, has been open since July, shares the same restrictions and will close on Sept. 30 as well. The 11 other marine areas in Washington have varying restrictions, but none are open as late as those adjacent to Whatcom County.
Recreational crabbers 15 and older must obtain a fishing license from the WDFW that can be purchased online or from authorized local dealers. In addition, they must purchase a Puget Sound crab endorsement on their license and obtain a Puget Sound Dungeness crab catch record card to account for all Dungeness crab they catch.
See the WDFW’s recreational crabbing page for information on rigging and baiting legal crab traps.
Finn Wendt is a CDN visual journalist; reach him at finnwendt@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 122.
