After five years of claims to the contrary, industry representatives have finally conceded problems with the way crew are compensated in the Bering Sea crab fishery.
The five-year review of the crab rationalization program presented to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council Dec. 8 revealed that crew have seen a consistent decline in wages as a percent of the ex-vessel gross since 2005, particularly in the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery.
Industry representatives have long acknowledged that crew are receiving less as a percentage, but countered that they are making more gross pay overall than pre-rationalization because they get to harvest more crab and know how much they'll be making before they hit the grounds.
Read the complete story from The Alaska Journal of Commerce.