The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has reopened the snow crab harvest after a two-year closure due to population decline. The harvest will be limited to 4.72 million pounds, the smallest in the history of the fishery.
By Yereth Rosen, Alaska BeaconBering Sea snow crab , with two specimens seen in this undated photo, support an iconic Alaska seafood harvest, but a crash in population triggered two consecuctive years of closure, starting in 2022. There are now enough snow crab of commercial size to support a harvest this winter, though it will be small. The decision to reopen the harvest,on Oct. 4 by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, is based on signs of recovery in the crab populations.
As Stichert describes it, the department’s decision to allow a “small, conservative fishery” for snow crab was the product of a careful balancing act. At the same time, there is a need to preserve those big animals to encourage reproduction while letting the smaller crab continue to develop, he said. “We’ve been focusing on really making sure that we leave enough of those large males in the water because we think those are the dominant breeders in the population,” he said.
Snow Crab Alaska Harvest Fishing Population Recovery
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