Cordova hatchery chief charged

State prosecutors have filed criminal charges against David Reggiani, general manager of Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corp., and two others in connection with a fuel oil spill in 2013 at the Cannery Creek Hatchery.

Bristol Bay in review

Here's the 2016 Bristol Bay salmon season summary from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

The sockeye harvest was an impressive 37.3 million fish.

Average ex-vessel price was 76 cents per pound for a total sockeye fishery value of $153.2 million.

That's a big jump from the $92.4 million tallied in 2015.

Negative outlook for crab fisheries

Results from this year's Eastern Bering Sea bottom trawl survey suggest we could see substantial quota reductions in Alaska's two most valuable crab fisheries.

Bristol Bay red king crab
The biomass estimate for legal-sized male crab is 22,424 tons, down 17.6 percent from last year's estimate of 27,209 tons. (See Table 6 on Page 31 of the survey report.)

Bering Sea snow crab
The biomass estimate for legal males is 51,670 tons, down 27.8 percent from last year's 71,550 tons. (Table 19, Page 44)

Fishery managers will announce catch limits in the coming weeks. The crab fisheries open Oct. 15.