The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has set the total allowable catch for three of the state’s crab fisheries, all set to open on 15 October.
The 2018-2019 Bering Sea District snow crab fishery total allowable catch (TAC) has been set at 27.581 million pounds, with 24,822,900 pounds apportioned to holders of individual fishing quota (IFQ) and 2,758,100 pounds reserved for holders of community development quota (CDQ). The season will end in May 2019.
The Bering Sea Tanner crab TAC has been set at 2.439 million pounds, with 2,195,100 pounds set aside for IFQ and 243,900 pounds reserved for CDQ. However, due to low mature male biomass, the fishery east of longitude 166 degrees west is closed for the season, which runs through 31 March, 2019.
The 2018/19 Bristol Bay red king crab TAC is 4.308 million pounds and the fishing season will run through 15 January, 2019. The 2018/19 TAC has been apportioned with 3,877,200 pounds dedicated to IFQ and 430,800 pounds allotted to CDQ.
All three fisheries have struggled in recent years. Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) slashed the TAC for Bering Sea snow crab by 50 percent for 2016/17 from the previous season to 21.57 million pounds, the lowest in 45 years. The red king crab TAC in Bristol Bay shrunk from 8.47 million pounds in 2016 to 6.6 million pounds in 2017, to this year’s 4.3 million pounds. The Bering Sea snow crab had its lowest TAC since 1971 in 2017, but is up by 47 percent this year. And last year’s Tanner crab season was canceled outright after low population numbers were estimated by the ADF&G.
The low quotas in 2017 drove up prices for Alaska crab. Last year, the ex-vessel price for snow crab rose to USD 4.07 (EUR 3.54) per pound, the highest since at least 2004, according to ADF&G. The higher snow crab could have significant market implications, according to the Pacific Seafood Processors Association. During the 2016-17 snow crab season, prices crested at USD 2.67 (EUR 2.32) per pound and between 2004 and 2015, the price never went higher than USD 2.54 (EUR 2.21) per pound, according to the association.
Likewise, prices for Tanner crab hit an all-time high of USD 3.53 (EUR 3.07) per pound and king crab was at USD 8.91 (EUR 7.74) per pound – near it’s all time high of USD 10.57 (EUR 9.18) in 2017, according to ADF&G.
Photo courtesy of Tanner's Fresh Fish Processing
