Bristol Bay’s red king crab season will open as planned on Oct. 15. The Bering Sea snow crab fishery, however, will stay closed for the 2023-2024 season, a decision that was made after the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s recent meetings, prompting the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to enact the closure due to sustainability concerns.
Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Bristol Bay red king crabs will be 2.1 million pounds.
Crab are jointly managed in Alaska by the Department of Fish and Game and the federal government. Fish and Game issued the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) on Thursday.
Last year marked a historical turning point as the snow crab fishery was shuttered for the first time ever, due to concerns over longevity of crab stocks. In 2023, both the snow crab and Bristol Bay’s red king crab fishery was put on ice.
Snow crab has all but disappeared in the eastern Bering Sea. Bristol Bay Red King Crab, which would open October 15, is at historic lows. Tanner crab is at the lower end of its historic abundance, according to the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, a trade group.
“These crab fisheries have been under the most sophisticated management system in the world — what the North Pacific Fishery Management Council calls a ‘rationalized’ fishery — where effort (the number of vessels) is consolidated and harvesters are issued catch shares based on their past history. Rationalization is designed to protect the resource and ensure sustainable harvests,” the group said.
The news is significant for the red king crab, whose stock numbers have rebounded to 2.15 million pounds, slightly below the 2.6 million pounds recorded in 2020.
The annual meeting of Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands crab industry with Alaska Department of Fish and Game staff is planned for Oct. 12. The hybrid meeting is open to the public and will begin at 10 a.m. AKDT. Topics to review include 2023/24 total allowable catch calculations for Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea Tanner crab and discussion on the Bering Sea snow crab closure.
