Wildlife officials in Washington state cited four people for hiding 21 Dungeness crabs in pouches sewn into their clothing.
According to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife Police, a wildlife officer saw a man put a live crab into the hood of a woman’s jacket on the Tokeland tidelands in Pacific County, KIRO reported.
The agency said the man then carefully adjusted her large sunhat to hide the crustacean, according to the television station.
The couple was joined by two more people. As they made their way through the parking lot, the wildlife officer asked if they had any crabs.
Although they denied having any, the officer said he could see crab legs sticking out of one woman’s hood, according to KIRO.
The couple eventually submitted five crabs for inspection, the television station reported. The officer asked if there were more, and the foursome reportedly denied it six times.
When the officer lifted one of the woman’s sunhat, he discovered another crab, KIRO reported.
“They were wearing body suits that had crab tucked into them and sewn into their jackets,” the officer said on body camera footage.
The officer also found a crab in one person’s pants and one in a woman’s bra, KIRO reported.
Police said two people had hidden 21 Dungeness crabs. Nineteen were undersized, and one was a female crab.
According to the WDFW website, crabbers must release all soft-shelled crabs and all Dungeness crab females to support population health.
WDFW seized three purpose-built crab-hiding bandoliers and one puffer jacket with sewn-in pouches as evidence, KIRO reported.
All four were cited criminally for failing to submit their catch for inspection and for undersized crab, according to the television station.
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