The 2024/25 Bering Sea crab season officially kicks off today at noon, bringing with it a slight increase in the red king crab quota, a substantial rise in Tanner crab availability, and a promising return of the snow crab fishery after an unexpected rebound.
Leading the way is the red king crab fishery, now in its second consecutive year following two years of closures due to low stock levels.
Around 35 boats, having set sail from Dutch Harbor in recent days, are heading out to work with a slightly larger quota this season.
Ethan Nichols, a biologist from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) based in Dutch Harbor, shared that the red king crab quota has increased by 7%, moving from 2.15 million pounds last year to 2.3 million pounds this season.
"Summer surveys indicated a modest rise in the abundance of both male and female crabs, surpassing the threshold necessary to proceed with the fishery," Nichols explained.
The two-year closure helped red king crab stocks recover, according to ADF&G researcher Katie Palof in a recent report to the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council. While red king crab stocks have improved, Palof noted that environmental factors still prevent them from reaching the heights seen in the fishery’s peak 50 years ago.
"The closure of the directed fishery in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons allowed the population of male and female crabs to stabilize, with surveys showing only slight increases. However, due to the 6- to 7-year lag between spawning and recruitment, the long-term effects on recruitment remain unclear. Current crab numbers are still far below the late 1970s levels, and without favorable environmental conditions, recovery to those high levels is unlikely in the near term," Palof wrote.
Red and blue king crab fishing in Southeast Alaska remains closed this year, as do the fisheries in the Pribilof and St. Matthew Island Districts.
As of Monday morning, Nichols reported 31 boats registered for the fishery, with more expected by the noon opening.
"I anticipate around 35 boats this year, thanks to the slight increase in the quota," Nichols said.
This fall also sees the return of the crew from the Discovery Channel’s hit reality series Deadliest Catch, which will film its 21st season during the red king crab season.
Nichols expects the red king crab season to wrap up in just a few weeks, after which the fleet will shift focus to Tanner crab fishing, which will likely continue through the Christmas holiday.
This year, the Tanner crab quota has been set at a total allowable catch of 4.5 million pounds in the western Bering Sea, while the quota east of Akutan is set at 1.7 million pounds. Both represent significant increases from last year.
In comparison, last year's Western Bering Sea quota was 1.32 million pounds, and the quota east of Akutan stood at 760,000 pounds.
The Bering Sea opilio, or snow crab, season is also making a return this winter. While the fishery technically opens today, the fleet will likely not begin targeting snow crab until January.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, along with the National Marine Fisheries Service, have reported that trawl survey data shows a sufficient number of mature snow crabs in the Bering Sea to permit a total allowable catch of 4.72 million pounds.
This announcement came as a surprise after a four-year decline in snow crab populations. The last fishery, in 2022, had a quota of just 5.6 million pounds, a sharp contrast to the pre-collapse quota of 40.5 million pounds in 2021.
"The NOAA summer trawl survey results were positive for all our crab stocks in the Bering Sea, including snow crab," Nichols noted.
To allow an opilio fishery, NOAA survey results must show that the number of adult crabs is above 25% of the long-term average. In 2023, this figure had dropped to between 15% and 19%. However, this summer’s results showed increases up to 40% in certain areas.
"This was a bit of a surprise," Nichols admitted. "Many of us were expecting to see these results next year."
However, there’s a notable change in crab processing for this season. Due to the low allowable catch, Trident Seafoods will not be running its St. Paul plant for the opilio season. Trident spokesperson Shannon Carroll told KUCB, Unalaska’s public radio station, that the small quota makes it financially unfeasible to operate.
"The low TAC would lead to significant losses just to keep the doors open in St. Paul," Carroll explained. "Frankly, even a few weeks ago, we didn’t expect to be in this situation. But I want to emphasize that this isn’t a signal that we’re pulling out of St. Paul or exiting the crab industry."
Source: Steve Williams Kodiak Daily Mirror
