It’s time to get out your crabpots, untangle your lines and ask your friends for a great Crab Cake recipe - Crabbing season in South Puget Sound is set to start on June 18.  For those of you in Central and North Puget Sound, as well as Hood Canal and the San Juan Islands, you’ll need to wait a little bit later before sitting down to crack your first claw of fresh-caught crab.

These Puget Sound recreational crabbing areas will open at 7 a.m. on the following dates:

• June 18: Marine areas 4 (Neah Bay east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line), 5 (Sekiu) and 13 (south Puget Sound) will be open seven days a week through Jan. 2, 2010.
• July 1: Marine areas 6 (eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca), 8-1 (Deception Pass to East Point), 8-2 (East Point to Possession Point), 9 (Admiralty Inlet), 10 (Seattle/Bremerton) and 11 (Tacoma/Vashon) will be open Wednesdays through Saturdays only, plus the entire Labor Day weekend, closing the evening of Sept. 7 for a catch assessment. These areas will reopen in the fall if recreational harvest quotas have not been met.
• July 15: Marine Area 7 East (Bellingham and Samish bays) and 7 South (San Juan Islands) will be open Wednesdays through Saturdays only, plus the entire Labor Day weekend, closing the evening of Sept. 30.
• July 29: Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal) will be open Wednesdays through Saturdays only, plus the entire Labor Day weekend. The fishery will remain open through Jan. 2, 2010.
• Aug. 12: Marine Area 7 North (Lummi Island/Blaine) will be open Wednesdays through Saturdays only, plus the entire Labor Day weekend, closing the evening of Sept. 30.

Confused by all these “Marine Areas” and where you can drop a crabpot? Check out the WDFW Recreational Crab Fishing page for more information on where to crab, what licenses you need and more information about the $10 “Failure to Report Catch” fee which will be imposed on your 2010 license purchase.

The daily catch limit in Puget Sound is five Dungeness crab, males only, in hard-shell condition with a minimum carapace width of 6¼ inches. Fishers may catch six red rock crab of either sex per day, provided those crab measure at least 5 inches across. Additional information is available in WDFW’s Fishing in Washington pamphlet on the website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/fishregs.htm.