September 21, 2021 –Unlike in the Bering Sea, there’s good news for crab in the Gulf of Alaska.
A huge cohort of Tanner crab that biologists have been tracking in the Westward region for three years showed up again in this summer’s survey.
“We were optimistic and we did find them again. Pretty much all the way across the board from Kodiak all the way out to False Pass, we found those crab and in good quantity,” said Nat Nichols, area manager for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game at Kodiak.
The bairdi Tanners are the larger cousins of snow crab (opilio Tanners) found in the Bering Sea.
“The very, very rough preliminary numbers look like we’ve at least hit the minimum abundance thresholds in all three areas of Kodiak, Chignik and the South Peninsula. So we’re excited about that.”
The last Tanner opener was in 2020 for 400,000 pounds, the minimum abundance number for a district to have a fishery. A fleet of 49 boats participated in that fishery and averaged over $4 per pound for the harvestable male crabs that typically weigh 2-4 pounds.
Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News