Saving Seafood

Red king crab fishery off to a slow start

October 31, 2017 — BRISTOL BAY, Alaska — The Bristol Bay red king crab fishery is off to a slow start compared to last year, according to Miranda Westphal, shellfish biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Unalaska. The season opened Oct. 15, and on Monday, just over a week into the fishery, only 1.5 million pounds had been landed. In the same time period last year, the boats had hauled in 6 million pounds.

The fishery’s performance, though, is not unexpected, and is in line with what biologists learned during pre-season surveys. She said 52 boats were fishing on Monday, and a total of 60 had registered. Part of the reason for the slow pace, she said, is that the king crab have moved eastward and into a smaller area of concentration, farther into Bristol Bay.

The average number of crab in a pot was 22, while the average number for the entire past season was 38, according to Fish and Game. The average red king crab weighs between six and seven pounds.

Read the full story at Alaska Dispatch News

ALASKA: Crashing Bering Sea crab numbers have fishermen on edge

September 6, 2016 — Bering Sea crabbers were stunned last week when outlooks for the upcoming fall and winter fisheries were revealed.

Results of the annual summer surveys by state and federal scientists showed numbers of mature male and females dropped sharply across the board for the big three:  opilio (snow crab), their larger cousins, bairdi Tanners, and red king crab.

“I don’t think anybody was expecting the numbers to be as low as they ended up. That was a shock,” said Ruth Christiansen, science adviser and policy analyst for the trade group Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers.

Managers use different criteria for setting quotas for the three crab species. For snow crab, the state chooses from what it believe is the most reliable of three data sets. Christiansen said she expects that fishery to be a go, albeit with a smaller catch quota.

“I’m not worried about that one not opening. But given the information we have and the state’s tendency to always be cautious, the catch will be lower than the 40.6 million pounds from last year,” Christiansen said.

Read the full story at the Alaska Dispatch News