rate of crab pot theft increasing?

[donater]

I had three crab pots stolen in 2 days near the green sign near the barge right outside Everett harbor. Is there always an increase in crab pot theft near the end of the season?

A friend of mine refuses to crab near other well known spots and goes way out of the way to insure no crab pot harassment. Is this something that everyone else does?

Also there is zero chance the crab pots floated away. I put them in 30-70 feet of water with 100 foot line of rope and weights during less than 4 hour soak times.

[G-Man]

Interesting article at the King5 site:http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/2 ... /71616952/

I make sure to crab during the slack tides or when there is only a minor exchange. Once I started doing this, I have not lost a pot. I know for a fact that regardless of how much line you have on your pot, when the tide is running hard, your buoy will go under, unless of course you run oversized or multiple buoys, in which case your pot will float away. Another issue is boats who run over your pots. This can happen very easily if your buoy is slightly under the water due to a heavy current and/or in a high traffic area. I shake my head every time I leave the Shilshole Marina and see all the pots distributed just outside the breakwater.

If you haven't planned to do so, check the area after crabbing season has closed. There are always a few pots out on the water, waiting to be claimed by their owners. I've reunited a few pots with their owners over the years.

Regardless if you think it was stolen or not, you need to report it. See the WDFW link below.

Report lost\derelict fishing gear:

Use the no-fault reporting system to report any derelict gear you encounter:
Report online at http://www.derelictgeardb.org/reportgear.aspx or call 1-855-542-3935 (WA Dept of Fish and Wildlife) or 360-733-1725 (Northwest Straits)
There are no penalties associated with reporting lost fishing gear.

[donater]

thanks for the info on reporting derelict pots. i lost a pot the other week when the wind storm came in. these last few i dropped in a very wide open flat sand bar that is 20-70 feet deep. there is no way they were lost

[Larry3215]

One thing is for sure - there are a lot more reports of pot thefts and pot clean-outs than in past years. I was talking with the folks at Point Defiance boat house a few weeks ago and I asked where the hot crabbing was. They told me Quartermaster harbor was hot - BUT - I better sit on my pots or they might be stolen or cleaned out by the time I got back. They were getting daily reports.

[DavidA]

A bright note or two: I have no doubt I have had some pots stolen, though this year I didn't lose even one. Something you might want to consider: put your phone number on your float. Though not required, the year before, during the fall fishery, I lost a pot and assumed it too had been stolen (3rd of the year). A couple of weeks after reporting it stolen, I got a voice mail from WDFW saying they had found it and a couple of days later, when I returned from work, I saw it sitting on my front lawn! I'm sure this is rare and the officer must not live far away, but what a nice surprise! Thanks to all the officers out there for doing what they do, and a special thanks for going above and beyond!

[Larry3215]

We use double floats and tall PVC pipes with flags on our - plus phone number is on all of them. I thought that was the rule?

[RJD]

The closer I am to State Parks and public boat launches the more problems I have with theft and clean outs. I loose a pot or two every year.