What is possession?

I’m having a bit of a debate in the comments for a YouTube video on how to catch crab from a kayak. The person mentioned that he plans to exchange smaller crabs for larger ones if he catches something bigger later in the day. My understanding is that once you measure it and put it in your kayak with the plan of keeping it, you have taken possession of it and it counts towards your limit even if you exchange it for a larger one later. He seems to think it’s not possession until you take it to shore. According to AI, it would definitely count towards your limit and you could only keep nine if you traded one for a bigger crab. What do you think? Does anyone know if it’s covered specifically in the regulations? I would hate to see a video offering to show noobs how to catch crab if it recommends something illegal.

High grading is illegal it’s in the regulations somewhere but I would need to dig it up. Lots of YouTubers do it but you’re not supposed to.

CDFW Answered this in an FAQ. Here is the conversation:
"Q: Recreational Dungeness crab fishermen often seem to hold onto crab in excess of their limit while they’re still crabbing, then they cherry pick the best ones and throw back the extras after pulling all of their pots. Is this legal?

Say, for example, I’m fishing alone and drop three pots. When I retrieve the pots, the first one contains 10 crabs, and I put them all in my fish box. The second pot also has 10, and I also put them all in the box. I pull the last pot, then sort through all the crabs and throw back all but the biggest 10 before heading into the harbor. This is how I would prefer to fish, but I think it would be illegal since I should never have more than my limit (10 crab per person) aboard. (Jesse)

A: What you describe is high-grading and is absolutely illegal. Every crab over the limit that is in a fisherman’s possession, even if just for a short time, could get him or her cited for possession of an overlimit. Once a limit is in possession, all other crabs must be immediately returned to the water. If a fisherman keeps 10 legal-sized crabs from the first pot, all other crabs in any subsequent pots must be released."

If a fisherman keeps 10 legal-sized crabs from the first pot, all other crabs in any subsequent pots must be released."

Good to see this called out specifically.
Makes sense to me. 👍

I think the person in question isn’t ever in possession of more than 10. If I had 7 in my bag and pulled up 5 jumbos and took 2 out of my bag and threw them back I would still have 10. The potential problem is that technically I am 2 over limit while the 5 jumbos are in my kayak and I intend to keep them. For that short amount of time I’m over my limit. Do the 2 I kept for an hour count against my limit even after I throw them back because I put them in my bag?

It seems to me that the CDFW response is not very clear. Why not just say something more general, like “once you keep one, it counts against your limit, even if you throw it back later”, which I assume is what is intended.