WAC 220-56-315   Crabs, shrimp, crawfish -- Unlawful acts.  (1) It is unlawful to take and possess crabs, shrimp, and crawfish taken for personal use except by hand or with hand dip nets, ring nets, shellfish pots, and any hand-operated instrument that will not penetrate the shell.

     (2) It is unlawful to set, fish, or pull more than two units of gear at any one time except:

     (a) In Puget Sound waters it is unlawful to set, fish, or pull at any one time more than two units of crab gear and two additional units of shrimp gear.

     (b) It is unlawful for the operator of any boat from which shrimp pots are set, fished, or pulled in Catch Record Card Areas 4 through 13 to have on board or to fish more than four shrimp pots.

     (c) In the Columbia River it is unlawful to set, fish, or pull more than three units of crab gear.

     (d) In fresh water it is lawful to use up to five units of gear to fish for crawfish.

     (3) It is unlawful for any person to operate a shellfish pot not attached to a buoy bearing that person's name, except that a second person may assist the pot owner in operation of the gear.

     (4) It is unlawful to salvage or attempt to salvage shellfish pot gear from Hood Canal that has been lost without first obtaining a permit authorizing such activity issued by the director, and it is unlawful to fail to comply with all provisions of such permit.

     (5) It is unlawful to fish for or possess crab taken for personal use with shellfish pot or ring net gear from the waters of Padilla Bay or Swinomish Slough within 25 yards of the Burlington Northern Railroad crossing the northern end of Swinomish Slough except from one hour before official sunrise to one hour after official sunset.

     (6) It is unlawful to dig for or possess ghost or mud shrimp taken for personal use by any method except hand operated suction devices or dug by hand.

     (7) One unit of gear is equivalent to one ring net or one shellfish pot. It is unlawful to have more than one unit of unattended gear attached to a buoy line or to fail to have a separate buoy for each unit of gear.

     (8) In waters open only on certain days or certain hours during the day, except for the night closure set out in subsection (9) of this section, it is unlawful to fail to remove gear from the water when fishing for shellfish is not allowed, and it is unlawful to fail to remove gear from the water by one hour after sunset if fishing is not allowed on the next calendar day. In waters that are open continuously except for the night closure set out in subsection (9) of this section, gear may be left in the water during the night closure.

     (9) It is unlawful to set or pull shellfish pots, ring nets or star traps from a vessel in Catch Record Card Areas 1-13 from one hour after official sunset to one hour before official sunrise.

     (10) It is unlawful to possess soft-shelled crab for any personal use purpose. Violation of this subsection shall be an infraction, punishable under RCW 77.15.160.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 77.12.047. 08-07-003, § 220-56-315, filed 3/5/08, effective 4/5/08; 07-05-051 (Order 07-22), § 220-56-315, filed 2/16/07, effective 3/19/07; 05-12-007 (Order 05-102), § 220-56-315, filed 5/19/05, effective 6/19/05; 05-05-035 (Order 05-15), § 220-56-315, filed 2/10/05, effective 5/1/05; 04-07-009 (Order 04-39), § 220-56-315, filed 3/4/04, effective 5/1/04; 02-19-014 (Order 02-224), § 220-56-315, filed 9/6/02, effective 10/7/02; 02-08-048 (Order 02-53), § 220-56-315, filed 3/29/02, effective 5/1/02; 01-07-024 (Order 01-39), § 220-56-315, filed 3/14/01, effective 4/14/01. Statutory Authority: RCW 75.08.080, 77.12.040. 00-08-038 (Order 00-29), § 220-56-315, filed 3/29/00, effective 5/1/00; 98-06-031, § 220-56-315, filed 2/26/98, effective 5/1/98. Statutory Authority: RCW 75.08.080. 94-14-069, § 220-56-315, filed 7/1/94, effective 8/1/94; 93-08-034 (Order 93-20), § 220-56-315, filed 3/31/93, effective 5/1/93; 92-11-012 (Order 92-19), § 220-56-315, filed 5/12/92, effective 6/12/92; 89-07-060 (Order 89-12), § 220-56-315, filed 3/16/89; 81-05-027 (Order 81-13), § 220-56-315, filed 2/17/81, effective 4/1/81; 80-03-064 (Order 80-12), § 220-56-315, filed 2/27/80, effective 4/1/80.]