WA Coastal Dungeness Crab Pot Fishery - MMPA List of Fisheries

Category

II

Estimated Number of Participants

228

Target Species

Dungeness crab

Applicable Take Reduction Plans

N/A

Observer Coverage

None

Marine Mammal Species/Stocks Killed or Injured

Gray whale, Eastern North Pacific;

Humpback whale, CA/OR/WA¹

Original Category (Year added to the LOF)

III (1996)

Original Number of Participants

1,475

Basis for Original Classification

Listed as Category III because there was no observer, logbook, or stranding data available.

Past Names

WA Dungeness crab pot/trap (until 2011);

WA/OR/CA crab pot (until 2009)

Species/stocks historically documented as killed or injured (but not currently on the list)

N/A

2011

• Split from the Category III “WA Dungeness crab pot/trap” fishery.  The coastal and Puget Sound (retained as Category III) Dungeness crab trap/pot fisheries are managed under separate licensing programs and different management regimes.  The State of WA considers these as separate fisheries. More importantly, the migratory routes of humpback whales pass through the coastal waters off of the State of WA, but the migratory routes do not pass through Puget Sound. Individual humpback whales have been reported to occasionally enter Puget Sound, but NOAA Fisheries has received no reports of these individuals interacting with or becoming entangled in Puget Sound Dungeness crab trap/pot gear.
• Elevated to Category II.  A humpback whale (CA/OR/WA stock) was entangled and seriously injured in Dungeness crab pot/trap gear in WA state waters in 2008. This serious injury results in an average mortality and serious injury rate of 0.2 humpback whales per year, or 1.7% of the stock’s PBR of 11.3.  There have been no reported humpback whale entanglements in crab fisheries in the inland waters of WA.
• This fishery has 228 participants.
• Added the following species/stocks to the list of species/stocks incidentally killed/injured in this fishery:
  • Humpback whales (WA/OR/CA stock):  Based on a serious injury in 2008. A superscript “1” listed after this stock to indicate that takes of this stock are driving the classification of the fishery.
  • Gray whales (Eastern North Pacific stock): Entanglements of gray whales in trap and pot gear have been reported; however, NOAA Fisheries had not yet determined which specific fisheries were involved.  Gray whales were added to the list of species/stocks killed or injured in the Category III “WA/OR/CA crab pot” fishery (from which this fishery is split) in 2005 and retained on the list in the Category III “WA Dungeness crab pot” fishery in 2009; therefore, it also remains listed under this separate fishery.  Data related to interactions with gray whales and the newly categorized Category II trap and pot fisheries will be reviewed and discussed in future LOFs.

Changes on the LOF when the “WA Coastal Dungeness crab pot” fishery was included in the larger “WA Dungeness crab pot” fishery

2009

• Split from larger “WA/OR/CA crab pot” fishery when the fishery was split by state and listed separately as a Category III fishery.  Each of these fisheries is managed and permitted by the individual states and each state has different regulations and regulatory capacity for their fishery.  The WA portion of the fishery remained a Category III because humpback whale entanglements have not been attributed to gear in WA. Gray whales remain listed as injured or killed in this fishery because gray whales have been listed as injured or killed in this fishery on past LOFs.

Changes on the LOF when the “WA Dungeness crab pot” fishery was included in the larger “WA/OR/CA crab pot” fishery

2007

• Added humpback whale (Eastern North Pacific) to the list of species/stocks killed/injured in this fishery based on 14 sightings of humpback whales entangled in trap (11 cases) or pot (3 cases) gear between 2000 and 2005.  Data was insufficient to warrant elevation to Category II for the 2007 LOF, but NOAA Fisheries stated its intent to monitor trap/pot interactions with large whales on the west coast and revisit classification in future LOFs, if warranted.

2005

• Added gray whales (Eastern North Pacific) to the list of species/stocks killed/injured in this fishery because of an interaction documented by the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program and NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement.