Golden king crab season opened on Saturday in the Aleutian Islands. The total allowable catch this year is 13% higher than it was last season.
Ethan Nichols, a biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said that reflects a sizable increase for the western area of the fishery, at over a million and a half pounds this season.
“The quota in the east this year is a very slight decrease from last season,” he said. “It's down 4%. In the western area, it’s a 79% increase.”
Due to the size of the fishery, it’s split into two different management areas: one east of Atka, and the other to the west.
“The east has more fishable depths,” Nichols explained, “You get further west, and much smaller islands that drop off quicker.”
Even with a slight decrease in allowable catch this year, the eastern area’s three-million-pound limit is still about twice the size of the west’s limit.
Nichols said just four vessels are expected to fish for golden king crab this season.
“I think it’s a really unique crab fishery, just where the fishing occurs, it being a deep water fishery from a select few vessels,” he said. “I’m excited about the upcoming season.”
The fishery was worth $29.5 million at the dock last year, according to preliminary figures from Fish and Game.
This year’s season will end next April.
