THE FOLLOWING IS A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
This month, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will be reaching out to Dungeness crabbers who harvested crab in select Puget Sound marine areas during the 2025 season with a brief, anonymous online survey.
Dungeness crab Catch Record Card (CRC) holders who reported their 2025 summer catch in Marine Area 6 (East Juan de Fuca Strait), Marine Area 7 (San Juan Islands), and Marine Area 9 (Admiralty Inlet) may receive an email on Dec. 11 inviting them to complete a survey, which will remain open through Dec. 23, 2025.
“We’re trying to understand catch patterns in smaller parts of these areas so we can make well-informed management decisions about the fishery,” said Don Velasquez, WDFW crustacean biologist. “We encourage those we contact to take a moment to respond.”
If a crabber harvested Dungeness crab in all three marine areas, they may receive separate emails with links to complete three separate surveys.
All crabbers licensed to fish for Dungeness crab in Puget Sound and Hood Canal are required to report their harvest, even if they didn’t fish for or retain any crab. The CRCs are essential for tracking the recreational harvest, and estimates contribute to determining catch quotas and seasons, Velasquez noted.
For questions about the survey, please email PSRecreationalCrab@dfw.wa.gov. To learn more about crabbing in Puget Sound, take WDFW’s Crabber Knowledge Quiz and refer to WDFW’s website.
