Members of the North Pacific council, particularly the six-member Alaska delegation, and the crab industry were wary of what appeared to be an intrusion of greater federal control defined by new uncertainty "buffers" in the revised Magnuson-Stevens Act that could have resulted in lower harvest levels.
Theoretically, an increase in the OFL should lead to an increase in the harvest, but the crab plan team has observed a lack of new, juvenile crab and is concerned about future recruitment into the fishery.
In contrast to the bitterness in New England, rather than criticize the state scientists for being too conservative, the crab industry has unanimously supported the state's approach to Bristol Bay red king crab.
"I literally have not had anybody come up to me and say they were upset about the direction the state went for king crab," said Bering Sea Crabbers executive director Ed Poulsen, "because everybody is wanting to have a long future in these fisheries."
Read the complete story from The Alaska Journal of Commerce.