A Washington Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) officer who asked four crab harvesters six times whether they had any more Dungeness crabs got the same answer every time. No.
He found 21 crabs hidden on their bodies.
In a Facebook post, the WDFW said Officer Garrison was watching shellfish harvesters on the Tokeland tidelands in Pacific County on the morning of June 16 when he noticed something off. A man placed a live crab into the hood of a jacket a woman was wearing, then carefully adjusted her large sunhat to hide it.
That was the first clue. There would be more.
Tokeland crab harvesters gave themselves away with the walk
The hiding duo was soon joined by a second couple. As the foursome crested the parking area, Garrison asked if they had any crab. They said no.
He could see crab legs sticking out of one woman’s hood.
He also noticed, according to WDFW, that their clothing seemed to droop. There were bulges. And all four were walking very, very carefully.
At the parking area, the group submitted five crabs for inspection. Garrison asked if they had any more. No. He asked again. No. He asked a total of six times. Six times, the answer was no.
So he lifted the sunhat. There was a crab.
Crab in the jacket. Crab in the pants. Crab in the bra
What followed, captured on the officer’s body camera, plays out about how you’d expect.
“They were wearing like body suits that had crab tucked into them and sewn into their jackets,” Garrison can be heard saying on the footage. “The crab legs right here, what’s that?”
He works through the inventory methodically. “OK, so let’s take the jacket off. I already got a jacket full of crab. What’s that? Those are crabs in there. I can see that they’re crabs.”
Then a pause. “No, the crab that is in your pants.”
And finally, the question that may not appear in any law enforcement training manual: “Does she have crab in her bra?”
According to Garrison, the answer was yes. “It looks like she does. Yeah, I can hear the bag.”
Washington crab smugglers used purpose-built hiding pouches
This was not improvised. WDFW said the harvesters had concealed the Dungeness crab in purpose-built, sewn-in pouches in their clothing. Even after the women began removing crabs, they handed them over one or two at a time, stopping each time until Garrison pointed out the next bulge.
When he thought they were finally done, he patted them down and found more.
The final count: 21 Dungeness crab concealed between two people. Of those, 19 were undersized. One was a female crab, which is illegal to keep. WDFW seized three purpose-built crab-hiding bandoliers and one puffer jacket with sewn-in pouches as evidence.
All four were cited criminally for failing to submit their catch for inspection and for undersized crab.
Washington Dungeness crab rules exist for a reason
Washington’s recreational crab regulations require harvesters to keep only male Dungeness crab measuring at least 6.25 inches across the shell, and to submit their catch for inspection when an officer asks. Size and sex limits protect the breeding population and keep the Washington crab fishery sustainable for everyone who follows the rules.
This story was originally posted on MyNorthwest.com
Contributing: Katrina Guishchard, KIRO Newsradio
Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here.