California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers seized 575 under-size crab since Dec. 9, not counting the most recent seizure to have occurred out of Crescent City in the last few days. Photo courtesy of CDFW

Since the commercial Dungeness season began in December, California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers have seized six loads out of Crescent City and two from Eureka due to the presence of under-size crab.

The most recent seizure occurred out of Crescent City in the last few days, CDFW’s Capt. Patrick Foy told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Wednesday.

Wildlife officers seized a total of 575 undersize crab during inspections over the last few months, according to a CDFW news release Tuesday. In those cases, under-size crab made up 8 to 24 percent of the fishermen’s overall load. Under-size crab also cannot account for more than 1 percent of a fisherman’s overall catch, according to CDFW.

In all eight cases, officers issued citations and sold the seized crab on the commercial market. Those proceeds are placed in the Wildlife Preservation Fund while the cases are adjudicated, according to the department's news release.

“If the defendant is found guilty, the judge decides they forfeit the load and the proceeds go where ever the court decides,” Foy told the Outpost. “It’s possible an additional fine would be imposed by the court and there’s the potential for (the fisherman) to be put on probation.”

According to Foy, evidence that a commercial fishing vessel tried to avoid wildlife officers or dumped his catch before it could be investigated could carry additional penalties. That was a suspicion in one of the cases wildlife officers came across out of Crescent City, though he said it wasn’t a factor in the prosecutions.

It's usually the skipper of the boat that receives the citation for possessing under-size crab, Foy said.

Commercial Dungeness fishermen are only able to keep crab equal to or greater than 6 1/4 inches in width, according to CDFW. Commercial fishermen must have a measuring device on their vessels.

Recreational crab fishermen are only able to keep crustaceans with a minimum width of 5 3/4 inches, according to CDFW’s news release.

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