The significantly lower quota on this season’s Alaska red king crab fishery is expected to result in a shortage of product in the market and higher prices.
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game set the total allowable catch for Bristol Bay red king crab at 7.834 million pounds, compared to 14.839 million pounds last season. The season runs from Oct. 15 through Jan. 15, 2012.
“We are very concerned about the lower quota. There will be a lot less product to go throughout the system,” said one buyer.
A main concern is that buyers from Japan, which is not producing much king crab since the tsunami, will purchase around 70 percent of the catch. One major red king crab buyer “normally takes 40 to 45 percent of the product to Japan and this year they are upping it to 60 to 65 percent. It is going to leave the United States in short supply,” said the buyer.
“I anticipate Japan taking over 70 percent of the [red king] crab right now. Everything was lost in the tsunami and, coupled with the strength of the yen, their buying power is going to be there,” said another buyer. “It is going to be extremely tight, for people who want Alaskan crab.”
Pricing on red king crab was not available as of press time.
Meanwhile, there is some red king crab coming out of Russia, which has a longer season than Alaska. “Russia has done a very good job of cleaning up their act and getting back into the game with legal crab,” said one buyer. Still, others maintain that buyers still don’t have the assurance of quality when purchasing from Russia.
As a result of expected pressure on the red king crab fishery, golden king crab prices are steadily moving higher, according to buyers and processors. “People are trying to get what they can and there is a firm upward trend [in price], due to the lack of reds,” said one buyer.
The blue crab quota is up significantly this season at 2.359 million pounds, but that will not necessarily fill the void in the red king crab market, say buyers. “There is more blue crab, but that is a smaller crab,” said a buyer. Last season’s quota was set at 1.6 million pounds.
At the same time, another buyer notes that blue king crab is often substituted for red king crab and the blue king price will be stronger this year.
