WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bipartisan bill introduced April 30 would permanently extend a 17-year fishery management agreement for the West Coast’s valuable Dungeness crab fishery.

Currently, Washington, Oregon and California cooperatively manage the West Coast crab fishery under a tri-state agreement first authorized by Congress in 1996. Under the agreement, the states work with the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission to manage stocks and conduct fishery science. The plan has to be regularly extended and is set to expire in 2016.

H.R. 2168, introduced by U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., in the Senate and by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., in the House of Representatives.

“The Dungeness crab fishery is critical to coastal economies in Washington state, supporting hundreds of fishing and processing jobs,” Cantwell said in a statement May 1. “This legislation preserves an effective, science-based, management partnership between states, federal fishery managers and fishermen to sustainably manage our crab fishery.”

“Absolutely, we’re for it,” said Hugh Link, executive director for the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, an industry-funded agency based out of Coos Bay, Ore.

He has yet to read the full text of the bill, but says the idea behind it is a logical next step for the tri-state fisheries, especially for the Oregon Dungeness crab fishery which has been designated a sustainable fishery in the past. The Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission decided to allow this designation — its Marine Stewardship Council certification — to expire, saying the usefulness of the certification had run its course and harvesters and consumers were confident about the way the fishery is managed.

“Fishermen from Washington, Oregon and California are responsibly working together to keep the Dungeness crab fishery healthy and sustainable for future generations,” Herrera Beutler said in a statement May 1. “They shouldn’t have to travel to Washington D.C. every few years to plead for the extension of a proven plan that has proven to work for our local economy and the Dungeness fishery. I’m proud to lead this bipartisan solution with Senator Cantwell and give more certainty to Washington’s crab fishermen and the jobs they support.”

“It just makes sense,” Link said May 4 about Cantwell and Herrera Beutler’s bill. “We’ve got something that works, why should we have to go renew it every five years?”

He and others involved in the industry say the bill could also give them some security. If the bill passes, they won’t have to worry about the management plan “sunsetting,” leaving them to face an uncertain future.

In Washington, Dungeness crab fishermen harvest an average of 9.5 million pounds of crab per year. There are 228 coastal commercial Dungeness crab license holders in the state. The state commercial fishing, processing and recreational fishing businesses provide $1.1 billion a year in wages with an estimated gross business revenue valued at $8.6 billion. In 2013, across the West Coast, fishermen landed more than $87.4 million pounds of crab valued at $252 million.