Attention  Washington  Recreational  Fishermen  
and Crabbers

Please Help Protect our Fishing Resources

Failure to Know WDFW rules, or Follow them can Cost You!

These fines supplied by WDFW as of 2006

  Failure to immediately record catch on Catch Record Card  I  $     75
  Fishing in marine waters with barbed hooks  I  $     75
  Possess undersize salmon  (+ $50 each additional fish)   M $   150
  Possess over limit salmon  (+ $50 each additional fish)  M $   150
  Possess fish/shellfish in unlawful condition   M $   100
  Provide false information to Wildlife Officer  GM $   350
  Trafficking in Fish, Shellfish, or Wildlife.       2nd Degree GM $   350*
  Trafficking in Fish, Shellfish, or Wildlife.       1st Degree GM $5,000*
  Unlawful Interference with WDFW operations  GM $   350
  Unlawful  Recreational Fishing.      2nd Degree  M $   100
  Unlawful  Recreational Fishing.      1st Degree GM $   350
  Possess female Dungeness Crab M $     75
  Possess over limit Dungeness Crab M $     75
  Possess over limit Red Rock Crab   M $     75
  Possess soft shell crab  (+ $10 each additional crab) M $     75
  Possess over limit Shrimp  (+ $50 each limit over 2) M $     75
  Use of excess Crab/Shrimp pots  M $     75
  Operate another person’s Crab/Shrimp gear  GM $   350
  Unmarked or improperly marked Crab/Shrimp gear M $   100
  No or improper escape rings on Crab/Shrimp pots M $   100
  Possess over limit Razor Clam  (+ $10 each clam over 30)  M $     50
  Possess over limit Oysters  (+ $10 each oyster over 19) M $     50
  Possess under/over length Sturgeon  M $   500*
  Intentional snagging, in freshwater  GM $   541

* = mandatory appearance at arraignment

( I = Infraction:   M = Misdemeanor:  GM = Gross Misdemeanor:  F = Felony ) 


If you have three tickets in ten years in Washington State, you will be losing your fishing and hunting privileges for two years.  It appears that if you get a ticket & it is inconvenient to appear contesting extenuating circumstances, so you pay the ticket, you are admitting to the charges, which goes into your records.   Now with the computerized system, & other states recuperating, you can not even get a license in those states.

 

Be a good sport and take no more than you need.

Puget Sound Anglers
www.pugetsoundanglers.org

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Originally started -2004, last revised 11-16-20
Gary Hulsey, modified for web usage by LeeRoy Wisner
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