January 3, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The New England deep sea red crab fishery will continue unchanged in 2019 as the quota remains at 3.9 million pounds. The quota has been unchanged since 2011. Catches over the latest five years as reported by NOAA averaged around 2.87 million pounds.
The New England deep sea red crab is fished by a specialty operation that uses a large vessel to set and retrieve pots. This fishery was one of the ones most affected with the designation of the Northeast Canyons National monument. Catches do fluctuate, although they have been well below the quota, which is also the Allowable Biological Catch, since 2011.
This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.