October 11, 2013 — Alaska's multi-million dollar king crab fisheries open on Oct. 15, but the harvest could be delayed, for a lack of required individual fishing quota and processor quota share permits.
The National Marine Fisheries Service has been unable to issue those permits, because employees whose job it is to do were furloughed, because of a congressional dispute over the nation's debt limit and the Affordable Care Act.
A delay in harvest could prove costly for processors who must have Bristol Bay red king crab loaded onto boats by mid-November, headed for holiday markets in Japan.
The situation has the industry frankly nervous, said Jake Jacobsen, executive director of the Intercoop Exchange in Seattle, noting that the crab should be heading by sea to Japan by around Nov.12.
Meanwhile, fishermen are gearing up for the lucrative Bristol Bay red king crab fishery. Jacobsen said 80 crab boats with an average of six crewmembers, are registered to harvest this year's allocation to holders of individual fishing quota, a total of 7,740,000 pounds. The total allowable catch of 8.6 million pounds also includes 860,000 pounds for western Alaska's six community development quota groups. Last year the allocation of 7.8 million pounds, included 7,067,700 pounds for individual fishing quota permit holders and 785,300 pounds for holders of community development quota.
State officials said a valid U.S. Coast Guard commercial fisheries vessel safety decal is required before a vessel registration may be issued, and that an activated vessel monitoring system approved by National Marine Fisheries Service is also required.
Read the full story at the Cordova Times