WDFW police officer makes crab bust at Westport Marina

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Last week Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Officer Dean patrolled the Westport Marina for commercial and recreational crab fishing activity after receiving a report of a suspicious looking recreational crab fisher making numerous trips with a backpack from Float 20 to a vehicle parked in the nearby parking lot.

Officer Dean made contact once the fisher arrived at their vehicle. The crab fisher appeared nervous upon first contact and couldn’t tell the officer how many crab they had retained.

Further investigation revealed a cooler of undersized Dungeness crab in the bed of the truck. When asked about the backpack, the fisher produced a backpack full of crabs. Officer Dean observed a bucket and a cooler hidden in the back seat of the truck, both full of undersized crab. In total, the fisher was in possession of 67 crabs, with only two of them being legal to keep.

The fisher was cited criminally for possession of female crab, undersized Dungeness crab, undersized Red Rock crab, over two times the daily possession limit, and warned for possession of soft-shell crab. A total of 65 crabs were seized and released back into the Westport Marina.