(1) Buoy tag and pot tag required.

(a) It is unlawful to place in the water, pull from the water, possess on the water, or transport on the water any crab buoy or crab pot without an attached buoy tag and pot tag that meet the requirements of this section, except as provided by (b) and (c) of this subsection. A violation of this subsection is punishable under RCW 77.15.520 Commercial fishing—Unlawful gear or methods—Penalty.

(b) Persons operating under a valid coastal gear recovery permit as provided in WAC 220-340-440 may possess crab pots or buoys missing tags or bearing the tags of another license holder, provided the permittee adheres to provisions of the permit. Failure to adhere to the provisions of the permit is a gross misdemeanor, punishable under RCW 77.15.750 Unlawful use of a department permit—Penalty.

(c) Persons operating under a valid coastal gear transport permit as provided in WAC 220-340-440 may possess crab pots or buoys bearing the tags issued by another state, provided the permittee adheres to provisions of the permit. Failure to adhere to the provisions of the permit is a gross misdemeanor, punishable under RCW 77.15.750 Unlawful use of a department permit—Penalty.

(2) Commercial crab fishery pot tag requirements: Each shellfish pot used in the commercial crab fishery must have a durable, nonbiodegradable tag securely attached to the pot that is permanently and legibly marked with the license owner's name or license number and telephone number. If the tag information is illegible, or the tag is lost for any reason, the pot is not in compliance with state law. A violation of this subsection is punishable under RCW 77.15.520 Commercial fishing—Unlawful gear or methods—Penalty.

(3) Commercial crab fishery buoy tag requirements.

(a) The department issues crab pot buoy tags to the owner of each commercial crab fishery license upon payment of an annual buoy tag fee per crab pot buoy tag. Prior to setting gear, each Puget Sound crab license holder must purchase 100 tags, and each coastal crab fisher must purchase 300 or 500 tags, depending on the crab pot limit assigned to the license.

(b) In coastal waters, except if authorized by permit issued by the director, each crab pot must have the department-issued buoy tag securely attached to the first buoy on the crab pot buoy line (the buoy closest to the crab pot), and the buoy tag must be attached to the end of the first buoy, at the end away from the crab pot buoy line.

(c) In Puget Sound, except if authorized by permit issued by the director, all crab buoys must have the department-issued buoy tag attached to the outermost end of the buoy line.

(d) If there is more than one buoy attached to a pot, only one buoy tag is required.

(e) All remaining, undeployed buoy tags per license per region must be onboard the designated vessel and available for immediate inspection by the department, except under the following conditions: The holder or alternate operator of a Puget Sound crab license has declared, as permitted under (f) of this subsection, that deployed tags have been lost and are unrecoverable, under penalty of perjury, and has been granted permission by the department to use undeployed buoy tags as a replacement.

(f) Replacement crab buoy tags.

(i) Puget Sound: Puget Sound commercial crab license holders are required to request permission to use undeployed buoy tags in the event deployed buoy tags are lost and are unrecoverable. Requests to use undeployed buoy tags must state the number of buoy tags lost, the location and date where the licensee last observed lost gear or tags, and the presumed cause of the loss. Requests must be made using a department provided electronic form.

(ii) Coastal: The department only issues replacement buoy tags for the coastal crab fishery in the case of extraordinary loss or on a case-by-case basis. Replacement buoy tags will not be issued in excess of the license holder's permanent pot limit.

(4) A violation of subsection (3) of this section is a gross misdemeanor, punishable under RCW 77.15.520 Commercial fishing—Unlawful gear or methods—Penalty.

(5) Commercial crab fishery buoy requirements.

(a) All buoys attached to commercial crab gear must consist of a durable material and remain floating on the water's surface when 5 pounds of weight is attached, unless otherwise authorized by permit issued by the director.

(b) It is unlawful to use bleach, antifreeze or detergent bottles, paint cans, or any other container as a buoy. The line attaching a buoy to shellfish gear must be weighted sufficiently to prevent the excess line from floating on the water's surface.

(c) No buoys attached to Puget Sound or coastal commercial crab gear may be both red and white in color unless a minimum of 30 percent of the surface of each buoy is also prominently marked with an additional color or colors other than red or white. Red and white colors are reserved for personal use crab gear as described in WAC 220-330-020.

(d) It is unlawful for any coastal or Puget Sound commercial Dungeness crab fishery license holder to fish for crab unless the license holder has registered the buoy brand and buoy color(s) to be used with the license. The license holder, or alternate operator, must register the buoy brand and buoy color(s) to be used with the license each crab season using the WDFW online registration form. In the event that a license is transferred to another vessel or owner in the same season, the license holder must reregister the buoy brand and buoy color(s) to be used with the license for the remainder of that crab season. A license holder may register only one unique buoy brand and one unique buoy color scheme with the department per license. Persons holding more than one state license must register buoy color(s) for each license that are distinctly different. The buoy color(s) will be shown in a color photograph.

(i) All buoys fished under a single license must be marked in a uniform manner with one buoy brand number registered by the license holder with the department and be of identical color or color combinations, unless otherwise authorized by permit issued from the director.

(ii) It is unlawful for a coastal Dungeness crab fishery license holder to fish for crab using any other buoy brand or color(s) than those registered with and assigned to the license by the department.

(6) Commercial crab fishery line requirements.

(a) All crab pots used in any Dungeness crab fishery shall be set up to use only the amount of line reasonably necessary to compensate for tides, currents, and weather.

(b)(i) It is unlawful for a coastal Dungeness crab fishery license holder to use line that connects the main buoy to the crab pot that is not marked sufficiently to identify it as gear used exclusively in the Washington coastal Dungeness crab fishery.

(ii) For each shellfish pot used in the Washington coastal commercial Dungeness crab fishery and rigged with line, that line must be marked with no less than 12 continuous inches of red in at least two places. At a minimum, 12 continuous inches of line must be marked in red, no more than one fathom from the main buoy and no more than one fathom from the pot.

(7) Violation of subsection (5) of this section is a gross misdemeanor, punishable under RCW 77.15.520 Commercial fishing—Unlawful gear or methods—Penalty.

PDFWAC 220-340-430

Commercial crab fishery—Gear requirements.