Officials have announced the closure of both the Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow crab 2022/23 seasons over concerns that populations are edging towards collapse.
In an Advisory Notice, issued on 10 October, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) advised that it and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) had completed analysis of 2022 NMFS trawl survey results for Bristol Bay red king crab.
It was found that the stock is estimated to be below the ADF&G regulatory threshold for opening a fishery and that it would therefore remain closed for the 2022/23 season.
The notice stated that ADF&G appreciated and carefully considered all input from crab industry stakeholders prior to making its decision.
“Understanding crab fishery closures have substantial impacts on harvesters, industry, and communities, ADF&G must balance these impacts with the need for long-term conservation and sustainability of crab stocks. Management of Bristol Bay red king crab must now focus on conservation and rebuilding given the condition of the stock,” ADF&G said.
It continued, “Efforts to advance our science and understanding of crab population dynamics are underway. With crab industry input, ADF&G will continue to evaluate options for rebuilding, including potential for sustainably fishing during periods of low abundance. This will allow ADF&G to work on issues related to state and federal co-management, observer coverage, discard mortality, and fishery viability.”
ADF&G advised that additional information will be made available during the annual ADF&G/Crab Industry meeting, with details of that meeting to be announced shortly.
A very similar Advisory Notice was issued on the same day for the 2022/23 Bering Sea snow crab season.
While the red king crab harvest has been cancelled for the second year in a row, this is the first time the snow crab fishery has been closed.
The closure announcements have generated considerable concern in the industry.
In a statement, Jamie Goen, Executive Director of the non-profit trade organisation Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, said, “These are truly unprecedented and troubling times for Alaska’s iconic crab fisheries and for the hard-working fishermen and communities that depend on them. For the second year in a row, the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery is closed. Paired with that, the Bering Sea snow crab fishery is closed for the first time ever. Second and third generation crab-fishing families will go out of business due to the lack of meaningful protections by decision-makers to help crab stocks recover.”
