The Alaska Bering Sea crab season kicked off last week amid a mixed outlook. Catch limits were slashed on Bering Sea red king crab as that stock continues a multi-year slide, but snow crab total allowable catch (TAC) was up and some fishing on tanner crab will resume after a complete shutdown last year.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) announced at the beginning of October a TAC of 2.648 million pounds for the red king crab fishery, where pots dropped on 15 October on a season that will run to 15 January.
The 2020-2021 TAC represents an ongoing downward spiral for red king crab in the Bering Sea, where surveys have turned up concerning declines in recruitment over the past years. The 2.648 million pounds is down from 3.8 million pounds last year and 4.3 million pounds the year before. Previous to that, TACs had a seen significant declines from around 20 million pounds in 2008/09 to just 6.6 million pounds in 2017/18.
While low numbers are concerning, lack of supply has contributed to pushing prices up. ADF&G reported the highest ever ex-vessel price for red king crab last year at USD 11.77 (EUR 9.93), although covid-19 market chaos shrouds 2020/21 prices in uncertainty.
News was better at the start of the season for Bering Sea snow crab. Stock assessments by the ADF&G and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) turned up strong numbers and managers set a TAC of 45 million pounds, up significantly from last season’s TAC of 34 million pounds and the 2018-2019 limit of 28 million.
According to reporting by The Alaska Journal, Bering Sea crab surveys, hamstrung by COVID-19 concerns, were not as complete as they would be in a normal year. And when managers feel like they do not have complete information, they tend to set TACs on the lower end of available data.
Jamie Goen, the executive director for the Bering Sea Crabbers Association, told The Alaska Journal that more complete surveys could have led to an even higher snow crab TAC.
“We think there is a 30-year high of [snow] crab out there. We’re pleased with this year’s TACs,” Goen said. “To me, [this year] stresses the importance of these surveys.”
The snow crab season will run through 15 May in the Eastern Subdistrict and through 31 May in the Western Subdistrict. According to ADF&G data, ex-vessel prices for snow crab have remained steady over the past three seasons at around USD 4.00 (EUR 3.37) after jumping up from USD 2.67 (EUR 2.25) in 2016.
After a complete closure on the fishery last season, the Bering Sea Tanner crab fishery will see fishing in the Western Subdistrict, with a TAC set at 2.348 million pounds on a season running from 15 October to 31 March. The Eastern Subdistrict remains closed this season for Tanner crab fishing.
ADF&G reported an ex-vessel price of USD 4.12 (EUR 3.48), a number that has been on a fairly steady upward march since Tanner crab went for USD 1.69 (EUR 1.43) in 2010.
Photo courtesy of Alaska Department of Fish and Game
