Coming back to life

The Southeast Alaska commercial red and blue king crab fishery will open Nov. 1 with a modest quota of 211,573 pounds, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced.

This fishery has been closed for several years starting with the 2018-19 season.

Good news for our best crab

Scientists report that new research has "revealed more genetic diversity across Alaska's red king crab populations than originally documented."

This could make the species more resilient to climate change.

Snow crab comeback!

After a two-year closure, the Bering Sea snow crab fishery will reopen at noon Oct. 15 with a modest quota of 4.72 million pounds, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Friday.

The department also announced a quota of 2.31 million pounds for the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery, which likewise will open Oct. 15. That's a slight increase from last season's 2.15 million pounds.

And the Bering Sea bairdi Tanner crab season will open Oct. 15 with a quota of 1.77 million pounds, down from last season's 2.08 million pounds.

Red king crab yes, snow crab no

After a two-year hiatus, the Bristol Bay red king crab crab fishery will reopen Oct. 15 with a modest quota of 2.15 million pounds.

The Bering Sea snow crab fishery will remain closed for the second consecutive season. This year's bottom trawl survey showed snow crab mature female and commercial-size male abundance is at an all-time low, scientists say.

The Bering Sea bairdi Tanner crab fishery will open Oct. 15 with a quota of 2.08 million pounds.

A crab catastrophe

The Bristol Bay red king crab fishery will be closed for a second consecutive season, and the Bering Sea snow crab fishery will be closed as well, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game just announced.

The continuing crab crash

The situation with Alaska crab remains dismal, according to preliminary survey results the National Marine Fisheries Service posted today.

Male and female populations of Bristol Bay red king crab "remain low across all size classes," the agency says.

And survey estimates for mature male and female Bering Sea snow crab are even lower than in 2021.

The results suggest the red king crab fishery will remain closed this season, and the snow crab fishery, which opened with a small quota last season, might be shuttered as well.

The outlook isn't entirely bleak.

"The positive news is that we saw a significant increase in immature snow crab abundance, both males and females. Depending on how many of these young crabs actually survive to adulthood, this could be one bright spot for the fishing industry in a few years," said Mike Litzow, survey lead and director of the agency's Kodiak Laboratory.

Shell-shocked crabbers urge 'bold actions'

Facing a rare and devastating season closure of the lucrative Bristol Bay red king crab fishery, a crabbing organization says the outlook for snow crab isn't good, either.

More in this press release from Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers.

Calamitous crab announcement

The Bristol Bay red king crab fishery, historically one of Alaska's most valuable shellfish harvests, will be closed this season due to stock weakness. Here's the announcement.

Norton Sound disaster declaration

Federal officials this week approved a disaster declaration for the 2019 Norton Sound red king crab fishery.

Crab crisis?

The Board of Fisheries has scheduled a March 16 special meeting to consider an emergency petition to close the Norton Sound commercial red king crab fishery for the remainder of 2021.

King crab down, snow crab up

Fishery managers have announced a total allowable catch of 2.6 million pounds for the Bristol Bay red king crab season opening Oct. 15. That's a very poor quota, down 30 percent from last season.

Managers also have announced a TAC of 45 million pounds for the Bering Sea snow crab fishery, a 32 percent increase.

The Bering Sea Tanner crab TAC is 2.3 million pounds. The Tanner crab fishery was closed last season.

Slim pickings for king crab

Fishery managers today announced a total allowable catch of 3.8 million pounds for the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery, which opens at noon Oct. 15. That's a 12 percent cut from last season.

Managers also announced a TAC of 34 million pounds for the Bering Sea snow crab fishery, a 23 percent increase.

The Bering Sea Tanner crab fishery will remain closed, as the estimated mature male biomass is too low, managers said. Last season's Tanner crab TAC was 2.4 million pounds.

Bristol Bay red king crab takes big hit

Fishery managers have just announced the quota for one of Alaska's most valuable crab fisheries, and it's not very good.

The total allowable catch for Bristol Bay red king crab is 6.6 million pounds, down 22 percent from last year.

The season opens at noon Oct. 15.

Managers also announced that two other crab fisheries, St. Matthew Island blue king crab and Pribilof red and blue king crab, will be closed this season.

Bristol Bay red king crab quota cut substantially

The Bristol Bay red king crab quota for the 2016-17 season is just under 8.5 million pounds, a 15 percent reduction from last season.

The fishery opens at noon Oct. 15.

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.

Bristol Bay red king crab quota holds steady

The Bristol Bay red king crab quota for the 2015-16 season is just under 10 million pounds, about the same as last season.

The fishery opens at noon Oct. 15.

Are Alaska crab quotas headed for a fall?

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council's Crab Plan Team will meet all next week in Seattle, and a key document on the table will be this technical memorandum with the results of this year's Eastern Bering Sea bottom trawl survey.

Deckboss certainly didn't have time to read the full 172-page report, but he did manage to find these intriguing snippets regarding the two most important commercial species:

Bristol Bay red king crab
In 2015, an overall decrease in male red king crabs was observed compared to last year. (page 16)

Bering Sea snow crab
Mature male and female and pre-recruit-male abundance and biomass is substantially down from 2014, and below the previous 10-year average. However, an increase in juvenile abundance over the past 3 years provides hope for strong recruitment in upcoming years. (page 25)

A couple of tables within the report are certainly worth a look: Table 6 for red king crab (page 37) and Table 19 for snow crab (page 50). Each table indicates a big drop in "legal male" biomass in 2015 compared to 2014.

It won't be too long before fishery managers announce catch quotas for the upcoming crab fisheries, which open Oct. 15.

Bristol Bay red king crab quota up sharply

The catch quota for the upcoming Bristol Bay red king crab fishery is just under 10 million pounds, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced today.

That's a 16 percent increase from last season's 8.6 million pounds.

Here's the official announcement. The fishery opens at noon Oct. 15.

Bristol Bay red king crab is one of Alaska's most valuable crab fisheries.

The department also posted a small quota for St. Matthew Island blue king crab.

We're still waiting for an announcement on Bering Sea snow crab, another lucrative crustacean crop.

Wait nearly over for crabbers

Julie Speegle, with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Juneau, just told Deckboss agency employees are back at work following the government shutdown, and they're hustling to prepare the permits necessary for Bering Sea red king crabbers to begin their season.

Six staffers are dedicated to the task, and the goal is to issue the permits by the close of business tomorrow, Speegle said.

Cantwell, Begich urge action on king crab fishery

Here's a letter from two Democratic senators, Maria Cantwell of Washington and Mark Begich of Alaska, who say the ongoing government shutdown should not preclude opening the lucrative Bristol Bay red king crab fishery.