Let's Catch Crabs 

🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀

To participate in crab catching, you need a fishing license, a catch card, and a crab endorsement. 

We'll drop our 3 crab pots on Saturday and Sunday, so you will need a 1 or 2 day license only. Then we'll eat them fresh with our crab boil lunch on Sunday!

Take the state's online quiz to test your knowledge about crabbing in the Puget Sound. (I learned a lot by googling for the answers!)

Daily limit per person: 5 male crabs at least 6.26" diameter.
You're required to record what you take on a catch card and submit it to the WDFW.

Report online, drop the Puget Sound Dungeness crab catch record cards off at a WDFW regional office, or mail them to:

​​​Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
WDFW CRC Unit,
PO Box 43142,
Olympia, WA 98504-3142

More information on crabbing in the San Juan Islands (including Guemes) here.

Update 9/5/25 - at this point, we recommend buying the whole shebang from a local dealer, so you can be sure to have all 3 parts of this license in time for the wedding. It's widely available at places like ACE Hardware in Anacortes, and sporting goods & Fred Meyer stores in Seattle.

Dealers in Seattle area (King county)

Dealers in Guemes island area (Skagit county)

Steps to get your license online:

• Create an account for WDFW

• Click HOME

• Purchase a LICENSE, TAG, or PERMIT

• Click CATEGORY (top left), then FISHING > DAILY:

• Choose a 1, 2, or 3 day fishing license, add it to cart.

• In the pop up window, add the crab endorsement and catch card.

• IMPORTANT! If you're doing this process less than 15 days in advance, DON'T add the catch card -- it won't reach you in time. You need to have a physical card on your person. You need to pick one of those up at a local dealer (see above).

• After you pay, you'll get a digital copy of your license to use immediately.