PENALTIES FOR POACHING spot shrimp are pretty light in our state. At least, that’s the takeaway after a recent court case in Jefferson County.

Jefferson County District Court Judge Mindy Walker sentenced Curtis Scott Grout to 30 days of electronic home monitoring after a jury trial convicted him of possessing a large overlimit of spot shrimp unlawfully harvested from Hood Canal. The case began on May 17, 2024, during a recreational shrimp opener.

Shrimp seasons on Hood Canal are highly regulated with just a handful of days open annually, usually with four-hour openers with a daily limit of 80 shrimp per person.

State Department of Fish and Wildlife Police Officers were patrolling aboard marked and unmarked vessels that day. Officers aboard an undercover vessel observed three men in a small boat pull a pot containing a large amount of shrimp and dump the shrimp into the boat without appearing to count any of the shrimp.

The vessel then immediately zoomed toward shore. The undercover officers alerted nearby uniformed officers, requesting that they stop the small boat for a compliance check.

Upon seeing the patrol vessel stop the suspected boat, the undercover officers observed a recreational vessel that was shrimping nearby begin to cheer. Officers later talked to the occupants of the cheering boat and found out that they had witnessed the same three men pull pots loaded with shrimp earlier in the day and then quickly rush for shore — actions they deemed suspect.

These witnesses were right to be suspicious: as the marked patrol vessel attempted to contact the suspect vessel as it motored toward shore, officers observed Grout tossing whole shrimp one at a time overboard. The suspect’s vessel finally stopped about 100 yards from shore.

Officers instructed Grout to stop throwing shrimp overboard and that they would be performing a compliance inspection, soon locating a large basket containing well over the men’s three daily limits of shrimp aboard the suspect vessel.

Messbarger counted 680 shrimp within that basket, well over the men’s combined daily 240 shrimp limit.

Onboard counts

At trial, Messbarger testified that you cannot control how many shrimp that you get in a pot while it is in the water, but it is what you do with them once they are on the boat that matters.

Shrimp harvesters are legally required to have a separate container for each harvester’s limit, and any shrimp caught that are over a person’s limit must be immediately returned to the water.

Grout was charged with possession of twice the daily limit of shellfish in violation of RCW 77.15.370 (first-degree unlawful recreational fishing). Grout’s jury trial took two days in Jefferson County District Court. The jury returned with a guilty verdict.

Grout appeared for sentencing March 10.

The state argued Grout formerly had a commercial license, had been subject to multiple license violations, had pending felony charges for trafficking in wildlife and therefore he knew the shrimping rules and intentionally broke them.

“Spot shrimp are a delicacy highly sought after by recreational and commercial fishermen. State and tribal fishery managers work hard to study these populations and set harvest parameters,” said Fish and Wildlife Police Lt. Kit Rosenberger. “By following shrimp seasons and limits, anglers can ensure that shrimp will continue to thrive in our state’s waters for the future.”

The 2025 recreational spot shrimp fishing dates should be announced shortly.

No financial penalty

There are some fines available under the unlawful recreational fishing RCW, but none that apply to spot shrimp. Based on the preciousness of the resource and the limited time allowed on the water to catch the species, maybe some revision is in order to make the penalty a little more punitive.

For those curious, there are $2,000 fines that apply to white sturgeon longer than 55 inches in fork length and green sturgeon and a $500 fine for wild salmon or wild steelhead.

Razor digs set

Nine days of razor clam digs on coastal beaches will begin Wednesday.

“This next tide series will have a bit of everything with the last afternoon to evening tides of the season and the beginning of the spring morning digs,” said Bryce Blumenthal, recreational razor clam manager for Fish and Wildlife.

“Morning tides usually bring new participants and larger crowds, so we want to remind beachgoers to respect the 25-mph speed limit and only drive on the hard-packed sand near the high tide line to keep diggers safe and avoid disturbing clam beds and snowy plover nests.”

As in past years, beachgoers are asked to avoid disturbing nesting snowy plovers — a small bird with gray wings and a white breast — by staying out of the dunes and posted areas along the southwest coast. Snowy plover nests are nearly invisible, and it is vital to give birds the space to live and thrive during the nesting period, especially along the southern end on Twin Harbors — known as Midway Beach — and north of Second Avenue in Ocean City to the north end of Copalis Beach and the north end of Long Beach.

Confirmed dates during evening (noon to midnight only) low tides March 26-28:

• Wednesday, 5:08 p.m.; 0.0 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks.

• Thursday, 5:50 p.m.; -0.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks.

• March 28, 6:29 p.m.; 0.0 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis.

Confirmed dates during morning (midnight to noon only) low tides March 29 through April 3:

• March 29, 6:58 a.m.; -0.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis.

• March 30, 7:43 a.m.; -0.8 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks.

• March 31, 8:28 a.m.; -1.2 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks.

• April 1, 9:17 a.m.; -1.3 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis.

• April 2, 10:09 a.m.; -1.0 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis.

• April 3, 11:07 a.m.; -0.5 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks.

Same-day reservations

Washington State Parks is opening up more camping opportunities for visitors by expanding its same-day reservation option to all parks with reservable campgrounds.

Beginning Monday, visitors will be able to secure a campsite instead of traveling to a park and gambling on the availability of a first-come, first-served site.

Campers can book a same-day reservation until 2 p.m. on their intended day of arrival.

This change is specific to campground reservations and does not apply to roofed accommodations, vacation rentals, yurts and day-use facilities (like picnic shelters).

First-come, first-served camping is still available for unreserved sites after 2:30 p.m.

To book a campsite, visit washington.goingtocamp.com or call 888-226-7688.

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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at sports@ peninsuladailynews.com.