Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Feds sending $99 million in aid to address three declared Alaska fishery disasters

June 19, 2026 — Alaska has been allocated about $99 million in new fishery disaster assistance, making up the majority of the $123.6 million in aid that federal officials on Wednesday said is headed to Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California.

In Alaska, the money is to address previously declared fishery disasters for Bering Sea snow crab and Chignik and Cook Inlet salmon harvests, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fishery service said.

For the lost snow crab harvest of the 2023-24 winter, the second year that the usually lucrative fishery was canceled because of low stocks, NOAA Fisheries is allocating $75.2 million in aid. That follows a 2024 allocation of $39.5 million in aid for the lost harvest in the winter of 2022-23.

Snow crab harvests have now resumed, though at much lower levels than in past years.

For the Chignik salmon disaster that occurred in 2022, the agency is allocating $18.5 million in aid. For the declared disaster for the 2023 Upper Cook Inlet east side setnet salmon harvest, the agency said it is allocating $5.8 million in aid.

Read the full article at the Alaska Beacon

ALASKA: Partners hatch a project to return Alaska king crab stock to health

June 19, 2026 — An ambitious campaign is underway to boost the population of lucrative red king crab in Alaska’s Bering Sea.

The project centers on a newly constructed shellfish hatchery housed in the Trident Seafoods processing plant at St. Paul, a remote island community at the heart of the Bering Sea. St. Paul has long depended on crab landings to support the local economy, but the stocks have struggled in recent years.

The commercial crab fleet and crabbing ports such as St. Paul suffered a particularly heavy blow with the closure of the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery in 2021 and 2022. The fishery has since reopened, but catch quotas remain small.

Now a partnership of researchers, agencies, nonprofits, and industry are taking bold action to strengthen the red king crab stock. It comes after decades of research on how best to hatch crab.

In early May, two chartered fishing boats, the Confidence and the Pacific Mariner, used pot gear to capture around 30 adult gravid red king crab – females full of eggs – for the St. Paul hatchery. The crab were placed individually into tanks. The eggs have since hatched, and the juvenile crab are expected to be released into the sea toward the end of July. Exactly where remains to be determined.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

North Pacific council to study new options to reduce bottom trawling

June 17, 2026 — Federal fisheries managers plan to consider new options in 2027 to reduce bottom contact of pelagic trawl gear on red king crab populations in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska.

Members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council assigned council staff during their June meeting in Vancouver, Wash., to develop a discussion paper on potential regulatory measures to reduce bottom contact of pelagic trawl gear in areas currently closed to non-pelagic trawl gear.

The goal is to reduce the uncertainty associated with unobserved crab mortality and to improve existing fishing practices, in light of depressed red king crab populations and changing ecosystems, council staff said.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Southeast Alaska’s commercial red king crab fishery opens Nov. 1

October 30, 2025 — Southeast Alaska’s first competitive commercial red king crab fishery in eight years opens on Saturday.

Ten different areas will be open for the fishery. They’ll be managed individually based on how much crab are available in each spot.

State regulations require at least 200,000 pounds of harvestable crab to be available for a commercial opener in the region. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) announced earlier this fall that over 211,000 pounds of crab are available this season.

Red king crab in Southeast Alaska is a low-volume, high-value commercial fishery with just 59 permit holders. Commercial openings have been few and far between, with just one in over a decade. The approaching fishery marks a highly-anticipated comeback.

Read the full article at KFSK

ALASKA: Southeast Alaska to get first commercial red king crab fishery in 8 years

September 11, 2025 — Red king crab fishermen in Southeast Alaska are getting a competitive commercial fishery this year — the first since 2017.

Red king crab is a low-volume, high-value fishery. The crab can bring in over $100 each. But commercial openings have been few and far between with just one in over a decade.

State regulations require at least 200,000 pounds of harvestable crab to be available for a commercial opener in the region. That minimum was set decades ago, when the crab was less valuable and the industry required higher volumes to make money.

For years, stock estimates have repeatedly fallen short of that threshold. But not this year. Instead, managers announced on Sept. 2 that over 211,000 pounds of crab will be available for harvest.

Read the full article at KFSK

ALASKA: Vessel registration begins for Alaska crab fisheries

August 14, 2025 —  Pre-season vessel registration is underway for three Bering Sea commercial crab fisheries, raising optimism that there will be harvests of Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow and tanner crab in the 2025-2026 season.

“That’s a good sign that all of the big three crab fisheries will likely be open,” said Jamie Goen, executive director of the trade group Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. “I expect most crab boats will pre-register for the fisheries, in the hopes that the harvest levels will be higher than last season.”

“Last season, only about half of the crab fleet fished since the harvest levels were at historic lows after several years of closure,” said Goen, who is also one of two voting members from the state of Washington serving on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

“Crab harvesters are optimistic for a better season this fall,” Goen said. “The crab stocks looked healthy last season, and several captains thought the harvest levels could have been higher. In addition, we’re hearing reports from some other fishing sectors that come across crab noting there are lots of crab out there,” Goen said. “The snow crab population, in particular, may be bouncing back faster than expected,” she said.

“The industry is anxious to hear reports from NOAA Fisheries’ summer survey to see if it validates what the fishermen are seeing. The survey data will be reported when the council’s crab plan team meets the week of Sept. 8 to start the process of setting crab harvest levels before the scheduled Oct. 15 season start.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Deadliest Catch returns: Season 21 spotlights the struggling Alaska crab industry

July 14, 2025 — The red king crab fishery in Alaska has faced historic closures in recent years, leaving many harvesters sidelined and processors searching for opportunities elsewhere to meet demand. Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch returns for its 21st season on Friday, August 1. This season’s storylines reflect real and escalating tensions in the Bering Sea crab industry.

The fleet will head west toward Adak Island, a former military base located more than 1,000 miles from Dutch Harbor, in search of a rumored resurgence of red king crab. While the show highlights the danger and drama of the chase, the underlying theme focuses on economic pressures and biological uncertainties.

Alaska’s red king crab fishery in Bristol Bay, once one of the most valuable in the region, has been closed since the 2021–2022 season due to low stock assessments(https://www.nationalfisherman.com/red-king-crab-fishery-to-reopen-despite-uncertainty). According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), surveys indicate that the biomass of mature female crabs in Bristol Bay remains below the regulatory threshold required for reopening. Limited harvesting opportunities are available in the Western Aleutians near Adak, though landings are modest and access is tightly controlled

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Unalaska formally accepts disaster relief, 3 years after crab crash

July 2, 2025 — Unalaska is finally seeing some financial relief nearly three years after the collapse of Alaska’s snow crab and red king crab fisheries.

The city has now officially secured more than $3 million in federal disaster money.

The City of Unalaska formally accepted the relief funds at its June 24 city council meeting. That officially adds the money to the city budget, but the move was mostly procedural.

Councilmember Shari Coleman, who’s been on the council since the city first braced itself for a shortfall in 2021, said the move was largely procedural.

Read the full article at KUCB

New study shows impact of ocean acidification on Bering Sea red king crab

February 27, 2025 — Ocean acidification appears to be a driver in the decline of Bristol Bay red king crab, a highly value wild Alaska seafood that has for years been threatened by climate change.

“There’s always been a high demand for Alaska crab,” said Jamie Goen, executive director of Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, in October 2024. “It’s a matter of having the crab to harvest.”

The red king crab fishery was closed in 2021 and 2022, then reopened in 2023 with 31 vessels fishing down from 47 vessels, she said.

The Bristol Bay red king crab fishery experienced record landings every year from 1977 to 1980, peaking in 1980 with a record total harvest of 130 million pounds. Then the fishery collapsed in 1981 and 1982, leading to closure in 1983.

A new report published on Feb. 7 in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science said that negative effects of acidification explained 21% of recruitment variability of Bristol Bay red king crab between 1980 and 2023, and 45% since 2000.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

ALASKA: Policy shifts, genetic insights shape the king crab fishery

February 3, 2025 — The future of Alaska’s red king crab fishery is at a turning point.

Proposed changes to the fishery’s management in Southeast Alaska could provide more opportunities for commercial fishermen, while new genetic research shows the species’ resilience. Together, these developments may help shape the sustainability of this valuable fishery.

Proposed Changes to Southeast Alaska’s Red King Crab Fishery

The commercial red king crab fishery in Southeast Alaska has struggled over the last decade, with only one opening in the past ten years. Currently, state regulations only allow for a fishery when the regional stock exceeds 200,000 pounds, a threshold originally set based on processor requirements when red king crab sold for much lower prices. However, that threshold is being reconsidered with individual crabs now fetching over $100 each.

According to KTOO, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has proposed lowering the stock requirement to allow smaller commercial openings, even when the 200,000-pound mark isn’t met. Adam Messmer, regional shellfish biologist for ADF&G, explained, “The 200,000-pound threshold… isn’t a biological threshold. It was created by the processors many years ago, saying that they couldn’t make money on anything less than 200,000 pounds. That was back when red crab was three or four dollars a pound. And times have changed…”

If approved by the Alaska Board of Fisheries, this change could provide more flexibility for commercial fishermen, creating opportunities for harvests during years when stocks are lower but still commercially viable.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman