Dungeness crab possession limit.

Now for the key question...

You go out in the am, get a limit of [____], come in, immediately gift it to your 9 year old son a family member, then go out in the pm and limit again....

Any objection to this scenario?  Sounds legal to me!

No objections here  if we are using technicality (loophole)  Got my wife a fishing license too. 

this is why it's good to take kids fishing, no license requirement and boosts your daily take! lol.

Now for the key question...

You go out in the am, get a limit of [____], come in, immediately gift it to your 9 year old son a family member, then go out in the pm and limit again....

Any objection to this scenario?  Sounds legal to me!

No objections here  if we are using technicality (loophole)  Got my wife a fishing license too. 

this is why it's good to take kids fishing, no license requirement and boosts your daily take! lol.

No more kids man. Childrens are young adults. Wife loves snaring got her a wader too.

Now for the key question...

You go out in the am, get a limit of [____], come in, immediately gift it to your 9 year old son a family member, then go out in the pm and limit again....

Any objection to this scenario?  Sounds legal to me! 

Clearly illegal as over the daily limit.  The day is midnight to midnight.  So you can go out at 8pm, limit, land and unload before midnight, then go out again at midnight and do it again.  But then you’d be done for that entire day. 

Possession limits and daily limits are separate things.  You can be over daily limit without being over possession limit, and vice-versa.

Now for the key question...

You go out in the am, get a limit of [____], come in, immediately gift it to your 9 year old son a family member, then go out in the pm and limit again....

Any objection to this scenario?  Sounds legal to me! 

Clearly illegal as over the daily limit.  The day is midnight to midnight.  So you can go out at 8pm, limit, land and unload before midnight, then go out again at midnight and do it again.  But then you’d be done for that entire day. 

Possession limits and daily limits are separate things.  You can be over daily limit without being over possession limit, and vice-versa.

Correct. The daily limit is how many you are allowed to “take” per day, regardless of what you do with them. You are allowed 10 per day. If you give those 10 away you are not allowed to catch more that day.

Now for the key question...

You go out in the am, get a limit of [____], come in, immediately gift it to your 9 year old son a family member, then go out in the pm and limit again....

Any objection to this scenario?  Sounds legal to me! 

Clearly illegal as over the daily limit.  The day is midnight to midnight.  So you can go out at 8pm, limit, land and unload before midnight, then go out again at midnight and do it again.  But then you’d be done for that entire day. 

Possession limits and daily limits are separate things.  You can be over daily limit without being over possession limit, and vice-versa.

Correct. The daily limit is how many you are allowed to “take” per day, regardless of what you do with them. You are allowed 10 per day. If you give those 10 away you are not allowed to catch more that day.

Ahhh.  Important distinction.  Moral of the story, bring your family with you on fishing trips so you can bring back multiple day limits!  And because bringing your family fishing is... the right thing to do. 

Starting at about 30 minutes, CDFW dude talks about gifting here:

Not to get too deep into the weeds, but suppose that I gift a fish to someone on the water. I'd always thought that that fish would count against both my limit and the limit of the person receiving it. But, the response to the first question here seems to say otherwise...

https://californiaoutdoors.wordpress.com/2014/05/08/can-gifted-fish-get-you-a-ticket/

This reminds me of when someone on another forum posted the following:

" I’m pretty much over it too, my back hurts, I’m tired of the radio fighting, and I am way full on every form of salmon one could eat. Lol, we could feed a small village at the moment for a month with all the other fish we bagged last month and month before. The smoker hasn’t stopped since Monday! Haha!"

The comment raised concerns that he could possibly be over the possession limit. I and others kindly let him know, and he went ballistic.

I wonder if F&W ever monitors forums for intel.

In the early eighties on party boats we would commonly go a few fish over the limit of salmon. The crew would put them in the large plastic bags filled with air, then toss them to other boats in the area.

If you are over limits, either daily bag or possession limits, that makes you a poacher. Play by the same rules everyone else does. That’s how I feel on the matter. Lol

A funny parallel that I have noticed is the same people who complain that "wardens follow the letter of the law, not the spirit of the law" are the same people who go out and catch a limit after limit and give them to every family member, every neighbor, coworkers, etc.

That in itself is following the letter of the possession law and not quite the spirit of conservation intended in that law.

Most all of us immediately have someone pop into our head who does this. Just an ironic observation.

A funny parallel that I have noticed is the same people who complain that "wardens follow the letter of the law, not the spirit of the law" are the same people who go out and catch a limit after limit and give them to every family member, every neighbor, coworkers, etc.

That in itself is following the letter of the possession law and not quite the spirit of conservation intended in that law.

Most all of us immediately have someone pop into our head who does this. Just an ironic observation.

nail on the head

The solution is simple!  Catch a limit of crabs. Steam and share them with your friends, making sure all are consumed.  Next day REPEAT!  ..........................

The solution is simple!  Catch a limit of crabs. Steam and share them with your friends, making sure all are consumed.  Next day REPEAT!  ..........................

Yes sir. How it should be done.

Shit, I have to catch a limit before I can worry about any of these problems. Lol

I emailed Ca Fish/Wildlife about the same time as posting the original post in the us thread. I finally received a response.


Hello:
 
Thanks for the e-mail.  Yes, you are correct, the limit is 10 and yes, that includes crabs that you may have processed or are in your freezer.  The only comment I would make is that it IS legal to give your catch away to someone else, let’s say, a family member.  So as an example, you could take 10 crabs, take them home and then “give” them to your wife. You would then be free to take 10 more.  You and your wife could legally have 20 crabs in possession.
 
Liz Orme
California Department of Fish & Wildlife
Law Enforcement Division
(916) 717-9064