Herrera Beutler’s Dungeness Crab Bill Passes U.S. House of Representatives

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On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler’s bill designed to permanently extend a fishery management agreement relating to the state’s Dungeness crab fishery.

Washington, Oregon and California cooperatively manage the West Coast crab fishery in federal waters under an agreement that Congress first authorized in 1998. The bill would make the existing agreement, which was set to expire in 2016 without a renewal, permanent.

The agreement allows fishery managers to coordinate between the states to ensure management and conservation goals are achieved in regards to the crab populations, which can vary greatly between years, a press release from Herrera Beutler’s office said.



“I’m working to support senate efforts to follow suit and also pass the bill, so it can be signed into law and we can end the uncertainty for the West Coast crab fishery as soon as possible,” Herrera Beutler said in a press release.

The release said the state’s Dungeness crab industry brings $61 million to the state’s economy annually and that crab fishermen harvest an average of 9.5 million pounds of crab per year which supports more than 60,000 maritime jobs.