Members of Congress from Washington on Monday introduced bipartisan bills in the Senate and House to permanently extend a decades-long fishery management agreement that has been vital to Washington state’s Dungeness crab fishery.
The states of Washington, Oregon and California cooperatively manage the West Coast crab fishery in federal waters under a tri-state agreement that Congress first authorized in 1998. The act would make that existing authority permanent. The agreement expired without a replacement in 2016.
Since early January, crab fleets from Northern California to Washington state had kept their boats in port as part of a disagreement with seafood processors. Although an agreement was recently reached, the bills by Senator Maria Cantwell and Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler will help to reintroduce much-needed stability to the industry.
“The Dungeness crab fishery is critical to fishermen and coastal economies in Washington state,” Cantwell said. “This legislation preserves an effective agreement that has allowed Pacific Coast states to sustainably manage our crab fisheries for many years.”