900 Illegal Crab Pots Seized in Washington

State authorities said Tuesday they have seized up to 900 crab pots illegally placed in U.S. waters by Canadian fishermen.

The pots contained more than 10,000 pounds of Dungeness crab, valued at about $25,000, said Tom Burton, a fisherman and Whatcom County councilman.

The pots were found about a mile south of the Canadian border, which cuts across the more than 10-mile-wide mouth of Boundary Bay, authorities said. The crabs were returned to Boundary Bay because the U.S. harvest for Dungeness crab closed last spring.