For the first time ever, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has extended the snow crab season. ADF&G announced Tuesday morning that it would keep some fishing grounds scheduled to close on May 15 open for an extra two weeks.
The Bering Sea has been covered in record-setting ice since crab season got underway in January and with just a few weeks left, fishermen still have almost 20 million pounds of snow crab to catch.
Fish and Game biologist Britta Baechler says the area that will remain open is where most of the crab already harvested this season was caught.
