Nearly 700 illegal crab pots were seized in the waters near Blaine in a two-day sweep conducted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Tulalip Police on Sept. 17 and 18.
Officers seized roughly 675 crab pots between Point Roberts and Peach Arch State Park — an area that includes portions of Semiahmoo Bay and Boundary Bay, said WDFW Sgt. Russ Mullins, who led the investigation.
Most of the illegal crab pots belonged to Canadian commercial fishermen. Mullins said when their waters have been fished out, Canadian fishermen will cross the border without proper licenses and try to intercept crabs moving north from U.S. waters. Similar sweeps have been done in the past by WDFW officers.
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