Surface Water Management Division

Dungeness Crab Stewardship

Projects

• Derelict Gear Removal
  Partners: Northwest Straits Commission (NWSC)
  Description: Develop a pilot recovery program to locate, prioritize, and remove derelict fishing gear in Puget Sound.
  Project Status: Ongoing

• Dungeness Crab Escape Cord
  Partner: WSU Beach Watchers
  Description: Promote the use of "escape cord" by recreational crabbers.  Escape cord is biodegradable cotton cord that will dissolve over time if a crab pot is lost, allowing trapped crabs and other marine species to escape.  Over 700 escape cord cards have been given to crabbers in 2006. Download our Escape Cord Poster (304 Kb PDF).
  Project Status: Ongoing; Current Lead: WSU Beach Watchers

• Gravid Female Dungeness Crab Habitat Study
  Partners: Tulalip Tribes
  Description: Develop a comprehensive map identifying gravid female crab habitat in Snohomish County by conducting underwater surveys to locate gravid females and identifying habitat types selected.
  Project Status: Current 2008

• Juvenile Dungeness Crab Habitat Study (Details)
  Partners: Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife, WSU Beach  Watchers, Edmonds Community College, Tulalip Tribes, Stillaguamish Tribe.
  Goal: Determine the preferred habitats and tide heights at which juvenile Dungeness crabs settle at along the Snohomish County shoreline.
  Project Status: Complete 2007

• Escape Cord Degradation Study
  Partners: Port Townsend Marine Science Center
  Description: Determine rates of degeneration of crab pot escape cord; determine catch rates and survival times for entrapped crabs in derelict pots.
  Project Status: Completed 2006

• Dungeness Crab Harvest
  Partners: Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
  Description: Compile harvest data and estimate the harvest pressure on Dungeness crab offshore of Snohomish County.
  Project Status: Completed 2006

• Discussions with Crab Trap Manufacturers
  Partner: WSU Beach Watchers
  Description: Determine the barriers for crab trap manufacturers to including information on escape cord with their crap traps.
  Project Status: Completed 2006

Links and Resources

Contact

Kathleen Herrmann, Marine Steward, 425-388-6414

Back to Marine Resources Program Homepage

Many of the documents are in pdf format. To read these files you'll need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer.