Washington
Researchers look to larvae for answers about Washington’s most lucrative fishery
One of Washington’s most lucrative commercial fisheries is also one about which the least is known. Unlike numerous salmon runs in the state, data about Dungeness crabs is scarce – leaving managers with little to go on when projecting future harvest levels.
That’s changing, as a growing collaborative of researchers is using light traps to survey the crab’s larvae and track trends.
Margaret Homerding, the Nisqually Tribe’s shellfish program manager, said in 2013, weird results started showing up in test fisheries for Dungeness crab.
“For the next four years, we just saw more and more giant male crab dominating the test fishery, and fewer and fewer small crab and fewer and fewer females,” Homerding said.
They decided they had to close the fishery, to allow it to recover.
At the same time, Dungeness crab fisheries throughout South Puget Sound had declined — enough so that all the state recreational fisheries in the area and the tribal fisheries of the Squaxin, and Puyallup tribes closed too.
The Swinomish Tribe took the initiative to start surveying larvae, by attracting the pea-sized translucent baby crabs into simple light traps.
Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
Project coordinator Emily Buckner, with the Puget Sound Restoration Fund, said these are simple, battery-powered devices that turn on at night.
“You can think of light as the bait in this case, of like a crab trap,” Buckner said. The technique was pioneered by Oregon State University professor Alan Shanks, who showed that counts of Dungeness crab larvae in Coos Bay reliably predicted population levels four years later.
The idea has now spread throughout the Salish Sea. Last year, the collective had people working the traps four days a week, at 22 sites.
“One of the reasons we’ve been able to have so many people involved is because the light trap process itself is quite simple,” Buckner said.
“It’s easy to build,” she said, adding that you can get all the parts from the hardware store.
Homerding, with the Nisqually Tribe, said they’re generating enough data now that they hope the counts will soon help inform management decisions.
“Being able to predict the number of crab that are coming four or five years down the road is great, because we would actually be able to plan for it,” she said.
“If there’s going to be an increase in population or decrease in population, [we can] figure out how to adjust our fisheries accordingly.”
She said other scientists are using the data now too — to look at things like genetics and the effects of invasive green crabs.
All of this will become increasingly important as climate change causes warmer and more acidic ocean conditions, and human population growth adds more runoff to local waterways.
The state’s average Dungeness crab harvest for the past 10 years is estimated to be worth $63 million annually, not including tribal treaty harvests.
At least one person died in Washington County, Kentucky, when a powerful tornado left widespread damage Friday morning.
The county’s sheriff’s office confirmed the death and multiple injuries in a Facebook post at 9:48 a.m. EDT, about two hours after the twister struck the area located about 50 miles southwest of Lexington.
“Please be respectful during this time. Prayers are needed for this family and our county,” the sheriff’s office also said.
(MORE: Canada Wildfires To Create Unhealthy Air For Millions In Midwest)
The National Weather Service will survey the damage today. According to NOAA’s database, this is the 63rd tornado death in the United States in 2025, and the 20th in Kentucky.
“The tornado occurred in a supercell thunderstorm that formed ahead of an area of low pressure tracking through Kentucky this morning,” said weather.com senior digital meteorologist Chris Dolce. “The severe weather risk has ended in central Kentucky, but parts of the mid-Atlantic, Carolinas and Georgia could see storms produce wind damage, hail and an isolated tornado threat the rest of today.”
For more information on the severe weather threat in the Southeast later today, click here.
This is a developing story; please check back frequently for updates.
Washington
This Washington city has one of the most Instagram worthy commutes in the US, report says
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Hey, at least the drive to work is pretty.
Vancouver in Southwest Washington has the “most scenic” commute on the West Coast and the third most attractive drive to work in the United States, according to a new report from Sixt, a mobility services company that works in such fields as car rentals and ride hailing.
The company drew on U.S. Census Bureau data to determine the average commute times for more than 550 communities nationwide, then identified the cities with the most scenic, affordable, and efficient commutes. Scenic-commute rankings were determined by factoring in the number of state parks close by, the number of public parks, social media posts, and commuter satisfaction, according to the report.
Vancouver residents spend about 23 minutes daily on their commutes, and the city “boasts 345,000 Instagram hashtags focused on its scenery, a perfect park rating, and three state parks close by — making the city a haven for nature lovers,” the Sixt report states.
The only other city on the West Coast that ranked in the company’s top 10 places with the most scenic commutes was the California college town of Davis, outside Sacramento. Davis ranked seventh in the country.
Which city has the most scenic commute in the country?
Clearwater, Florida, in the Tampa Bay area, has the most scenic commute in the country, according to Sixt. Residents in Clearwater spend an average of 23 minutes commuting per day, the report said.
“This Florida gem boasts 343,000 Instagram hashtags dedicated to the city’s beauty, a perfect park rating, and three state parks nearby, it’s no shock that this seaside city comes out on top,” the report states. “With the Causeway Byway stretching nearly two miles across Clearwater Bay, offering panoramic views of the sea, it’s safe to say that locals look forward to their daily commutes.”
The top 10 cities with the most picturesque commutes in the US
According to Sixt, these are the cities with the most scenic commutes in the country:
- Clearwater, Florida
- Ocean City, Maryland
- Vancouver, Washington
- Wilmington, Delaware
- West Palm Beach, Florida
- Burlington, Vermont
- Davis, California
- Newark Delaware
- Pleasant View, Utah
- White, Utah
Washington
Third time's the charm for Port Washington boys lacrosse in Nassau Class A semifinal win over Farmingdale
Farmingdale ended Port Washington’s season in the Nassau Class A boys lacrosse final two seasons ago and then again in the semifinals last season.
This time, the third-seeded Vikings were the ones making a happy sprint toward their goalie, Max Eynon, at the end. They ousted the second-seeded, two-time defending county and Long Island champion Dalers, 9-5, in the semis Wednesday night at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium.
“They sent us home the last two years, and we just wanted this one so bad,” Eynon said. “We’re not done yet and we just want to keep going.”
The sophomore made eight saves. Christian Sarchese and Harry Eynon, Max’s brother, each scored three times and Will Ahmuty delivered four assists.
So Port Washington (15-3) will face top-seeded Massapequa for the title at 3 p.m. Saturday at Shuart.
“We definitely think we’re going to win it,” Max said.
Farmingdale (10-8) lost despite three goals and one assist from Sean Schumeyer and 10 saves from Matt Hughes.
“Listen, there’s plenty of years where we didn’t win the championship,” Dalers coach Eric Dunne said. “There’s a lot of young guys returning for next year. There’s a lot of lessons for them to learn.”
Massapequa, which beat Port Washington, 9-7, on April 25, will play a team that has yielded six goals or less 15 times.
“It starts from the attack,” Vikings coach Glenn Lavey said. “Our riding again was excellent. I think our middies get back and make it six-on-six. Then once we’re in the box, we have really good players and a really good goalie.”
Lavey had been saying since the Dalers defeated Port Washington, 8-6, on May 9 that Sarchese was going to be the difference the next time they played.
“He made the prophecy come true,” Lavey said.
Farmingdale cut it to 6-4 with 9:48 left.
Then Ahmuty made a great pickup by the left of the cage and sent the ball out to Sarchese. The senior scored his third, and the margin never got closer than three from there.
“The momentum started to shift away,” Sarchese said. “They started crawling back. That one really put us back on top and gave us that boost we needed to finish out the game.”
It was 3-2 Port after one quarter, 4-3 Port at halftime and 5-3 Port after three.
“We didn’t do a great job of clearing the ball,” Dunne said. “ . . . We got a little rattled at times.”
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