Crabby Crabbers
Crabby Crabbers
It's bad enough when low catch rates make it hard for commercial crab fishermen in North Puget Sound to scratch together a living. The high price can help offset this some, if not for people stealing crab from the traps.... and sometimes stealing the traps themselves. Imagine someone breaking into your car and stealing your wallet... or, worse yet, stealing your car and your wallet. Not much difference here, except that these fishermen don’t have insurance, and this kind of property crime is hard to detect. Who do you call if you do witness this kind of theft? The Fish and Wildlife Police.
Officer Rosenberger recently responded to just such a call in plain clothes and his personal vehicle within ten minutes of the report. Utilizing a camera with a large telephoto lens, he photographed the suspect vessel as the operator and deckhand pulled six commercial pots that did not belong to them. And in case you're wondering, nobody's confused here – these are fishermen who know one another, and all have crab gear marked in such a way as to distinguish it from someone else’s (think Deadliest Catch). The suspects removed the legal sized crab before putting the pots back into the water. Officers Gaston and Downes arrived in the area shortly after, and together with Officer Rosenberger, they devised a plan to catch the thieves the next time they went out.
As the suspect vessel got underway the next time, Officer Rosenberger again photographed the crime, this time from an unmarked vehicle, as the outlaws pulled four more commercial crab pots belonging to others and stole numerous crab from within. Meanwhile, Officer Gaston observed the vessel’s return to the dock and watched as the suspects loaded their stolen crab into their vehicle. As the two suspects drove away, Officers Rosenberger and Downes performed a vehicle stop and detained them until Officer Gaston arrived to question them. After a few lies were told, the truth finally came out. Both suspects confessed in a written statement to pulling gear that didn’t belong to them and stealing crab. They also failed to possess the mandatory transport documents for the 66 pounds of crab they had in the vehicle. The crab and vessel were seized for forfeiture proceedings. Officers will be charging the two in Skagit County with 10 counts of Unlawful Interference 1st degree, Theft 3rd, unlawful transportation, and no driver’s license on person while operating a motor vehicle.
Vessel seized for forfeiture
It's bad enough when low catch rates make it hard for commercial crab fishermen in North Puget Sound to scratch together a living. The high price can help offset this some, if not for people stealing crab from the traps.... and sometimes stealing the traps themselves. Imagine someone breaking into your car and stealing your wallet... or, worse yet, stealing your car and your wallet. Not much difference here, except that these fishermen don’t have insurance, and this kind of property crime is hard to detect. Who do you call if you do witness this kind of theft? The Fish and Wildlife Police.
Officer Rosenberger recently responded to just such a call in plain clothes and his personal vehicle within ten minutes of the report. Utilizing a camera with a large telephoto lens, he photographed the suspect vessel as the operator and deckhand pulled six commercial pots that did not belong to them. And in case you're wondering, nobody's confused here – these are fishermen who know one another, and all have crab gear marked in such a way as to distinguish it from someone else’s (think Deadliest Catch). The suspects removed the legal sized crab before putting the pots back into the water. Officers Gaston and Downes arrived in the area shortly after, and together with Officer Rosenberger, they devised a plan to catch the thieves the next time they went out.
As the suspect vessel got underway the next time, Officer Rosenberger again photographed the crime, this time from an unmarked vehicle, as the outlaws pulled four more commercial crab pots belonging to others and stole numerous crab from within. Meanwhile, Officer Gaston observed the vessel’s return to the dock and watched as the suspects loaded their stolen crab into their vehicle. As the two suspects drove away, Officers Rosenberger and Downes performed a vehicle stop and detained them until Officer Gaston arrived to question them. After a few lies were told, the truth finally came out. Both suspects confessed in a written statement to pulling gear that didn’t belong to them and stealing crab. They also failed to possess the mandatory transport documents for the 66 pounds of crab they had in the vehicle. The crab and vessel were seized for forfeiture proceedings. Officers will be charging the two in Skagit County with 10 counts of Unlawful Interference 1st degree, Theft 3rd, unlawful transportation, and no driver’s license on person while operating a motor vehicle.
