Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-340-420, effective immediately until further notice:

(1) It is unlawful for any fisher or wholesale dealer or buyer to land or purchase Dungeness crab taken from Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, Columbia River, or Washington coastal or adjacent waters of the Pacific Ocean from any vessel, unless:

(a) A valid Washington crab vessel inspection certificate has been issued to the delivering vessel and;

(b) The vessel inspection certificate numbers are recorded on all shellfish tickets completed for coastal Dungeness crab landings until further notice.

(2) Effective 8:00 a.m. December 28, 2025, until 8:00 a.m. January 1, 2026, it is unlawful for persons participating in the Washington coastal, Columbia River, or Willapa Bay commercial Dungeness crab fishery to:

(a) Deploy or operate more than 400 shellfish pots if the permanent number of shellfish pots assigned to the Coastal commercial crab fishery license held by that person is 500.

(b) Deploy or operate more than 250 shellfish pots if the permanent number of shellfish pots assigned to the Coastal Dungeness crab fishery license held by that person is 300.

(c) Fail to maintain on board any participating vessel the excess crab pot buoy tags assigned to the Coastal Dungeness crab fishery license being fished.

(d) Store or possess crab pots on board any participating vessel in excess of the vessels pot limit.

(e) Load pots with buoy tags attached in excess of the pot limits described with this section more than 48-hours prior to pot limits being lifted.

(3) It is unlawful to possess or deliver Dungeness crab unless the following conditions are met:

(a) Vessels that participate in the Dungeness crab fishery south of Cape Falcon, Oregon (45°46.00 N. Lat.) may not deliver crab north of the Columbia River except into the ports of Ilwaco and Chinook until 9:00 a.m. December 31, 2025. Such vessels must adhere to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife closed area transit allowance requirements.

(b) Vessels that participated in the coastal Dungeness crab fishery from Klipsan Beach (46°28.00 North Latitude) to OR/CA Border, including Willapa Bay and the Columbia River, may possess crab for delivery into Washington ports south of 47°00.00 N. Lat., provided the crab were taken south of Klipsan (46°28.00 N. Lat.).

(4) It is unlawful for a vessel not designated on a coastal Dungeness crab fishery license to deploy crab pot gear except under the following conditions:

(a) The vessel deploys pot gear only during the 73-hour period immediately preceding the season opening date and during the 48-hour period immediately following the season opening date;

(b) The undesignated vessel carries no more than 250 crab pots at any one time; and

(c) The primary or alternate operator of the crab pot gear named on the license associated with the gear is on board the undesignated vessel while the gear is being deployed.

(5) Violation of subsection (5) of this section is a gross misdemeanor or class C felony punishable under RCW 77.15.500 Commercial fishing without a license—Penalty, depending on the circumstances of the violation.

(6) All other provisions of the permanent rule remain in effect.

Effective immediately, until further notice, provisions of WAC 220-340-430 regarding the allowable distance of line connecting main (diver) buoys to the last trailer buoy for coastal commercial Dungeness crab fishery surface gear are modified as described in this section. All other provisions of WAC 220-340-430, not addressed in this section, remain in effect unless altered by emergency rule:

The maximum distance of the line connecting the main (diver) buoy to the last trailer buoy must not exceed 36 feet, unless the vessel is operating under the exemption provided under this subsection. Vessel operators and alternate operators, as outlined in RCW 77.65.130, may request a surface gear length exemption permit from the department prior to the commencement of fishing for a demonstrated safety risk. An exemption is only authorized for the period specified on the permit, for the surface gear length specified on the permit, and the fishing area and depth specified on the permit. Requests for exemption permits will be evaluated by the department on a case-by-case basis and granted at the department's discretion. 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.

Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-340-450 effective immediately until further notice: it is unlawful to fish for Dungeness crab in Washington coastal waters, including Willapa Bay, or the Columbia River, except as provided in this section.

(1) Open area: The area from Klipsan Beach, Washington (46°28.00) to the WA/OR border (46°15.00) and Willapa Bay.

(a) For the purposes of this section, the waters of Willapa Bay include the marine waters east of a line connecting 46°44.76 N, 124°05.76 W and 46°38.93 N, 124°04.33 W.

(b) It is permissible to set crab gear beginning at 8:00 a.m., December 28, 2025.

(c) It is permissible to pull crab gear beginning at 9:00 a.m., December 31, 2025.

(d) Licenses and vessels designated to those licenses that fish in the coastal commercial Dungeness crab fishery in the waters between CA/OR border and Cape Falcon, Oregon (45º46.00) before the area between WA/OR border to Oysterville (46°33.00) opens will not be allowed to fish in this area until 9:00 am on January 30, 2026.

(e) Licenses and vessels designated to those licenses that participate in the coastal commercial Dungeness crab fishery in the waters from Cape Falcon, Oregon (45º46.00) to Klipsan Beach, Washington (46°28.00), including Willapa Bay, before the area north of Klipsan Beach (46°28.00) opens, are prohibited from fishing in the following areas for the durations specified:

i. The waters between Klipsan Beach (46°28.00) and Oysterville (46°33.00) until 9:00 a.m. January 14, 2026; and

ii. The waters between Oysterville (46°33.00) and the Destruction Island (47º40.50) until 9:00 a.m. February 8, 2026.

(2) Open area: The area from Klipsan Beach (46°28.00) to Destruction Island (47º40.50), including Grays Harbor.

(a) It is permissible to set crab gear beginning at 8:00 a.m., January 1, 2026.

(b) It is permissible to pull crab gear beginning at 9:00 a.m., January 4, 2026.

(3) The Quinault primary special management area (PSMA) is closed to fishing for Dungeness crab until further notice. The PSMA includes the area shoreward of a line approximating the 27-fathom depth curve between Raft River (47º28.00) and Copalis River (47°08.00) according to the following coordinates:

Northeast Corner (Raft River): 47°28.00 N. Lat. 124°20.70 W. Lon.

Northwest Corner: 47°28.00 N. Lat. 124°34.00 W. Lon.

Southwest Corner: 47°08.00 N. Lat. 124°25.50 W. Lon.

Southeast Corner (Copalis River): 47°08.00 N. Lat. 124°11.20 W. Lon.

All other provisions of the permanent rule remain in effect.