[ODFW-News] State Police target crab pots left in ocean

[ODFW News]

Contact: Lieutenant Dave Cleary
Phone:  (503) 378-3720 ext. 4308


State Police target crab pots left in ocean

The Oregon State Police with the assistance of Washington Department of
Fish and Game's enforcement vessel CORLISS will conduct an offshore
patrol along the Oregon Coast targeting closed season commercial
Dungeness crab gear.  

Commercial Dungeness crab season ended on August 14th.  The fishers
have two weeks to remove their crab pots from the waters of the Pacific
Ocean.   All commercial Dungeness crab pots must be out of the ocean by
midnight on Aug. 29.  

This patrol is the result of the large number of complaints the Oregon
State Police and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife receive from
citizens and industry about illegal commercial crab gear.   

The CORLISS will patrol the Oregon Coast during the week of Aug. 30. 
Commercial Dungeness crab Pots encountered will be documented and
seized.  The penalty for leaving commercial crab pots in the Pacific
Ocean after the close of the season is a Class A Misdemeanor, punishable
by a fine up to $7,500 and a year in jail. 

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