The Quinault Indian Nation’s Dungeness Crab Fleet in Westport, Washington State

Fish harvesters in The Quinault Indian Nation’s Dungeness crab fleet are embracing the use of electronic monitoring systems to address the need to track fishing activity, including the location of traps to both retrieve derelict ‘ghost’ gear and attempt to decrease the occurrence of gear tampering.

The Quinault Indian Nation’s Dungeness crab fleet deploys
approximately 10,000 crab trap per season from 25 vessels.

Data collection through electronic monitoring not only helps them manage these challenges but is also a response to the industry-wide recognition that environmental and enforcement issues are making fishing more difficult.

Questions?

The use of this technology results in better and more transparent data collection in Washington State’s Dungeness crab fishery and provides the Quinault with information they can use to better facilitate their co-management of the fishery at state and federal levels.