January 26, 2023 — Despite the red king and opilio crab crash in the Bering Sea, pollock trawlers will be allowed to fish in the Red King Crab Savings Area for this season.
The Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers had petitioned the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last year in hopes of closing the area, after the announcement that the red king crab would remain closed for the second year in a row and that there would be no opilio season for 2023.
The response from NOAA Fisheries to allow continued trawling in the area disappointed leaders in the crab industry, where the economic losses tied to the closed seasons for red king and opilio crab has already been estimated at $287 million by the State of Alaska, and could hit $500 million including peripheral industries.
The Red King Crab Savings Area (RKCSA), an area of 3,998 nautical miles (4,600 land miles) in the eastern Bering Sea, has been closed to bottom trawling since 1996; however, mid water trawls and fixed gear, longlines and pots have been allowed to fish inside of the area.
The request was to close the area from Jan. 1 to June 30 to all gear types under emergency regulation as a temporary measure of conservation while a permanent solution would go through the conventional council process of gathering data, public testimony and ruling – a process that can sometimes take years.