Southeast Alaska Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishing Closing

Here’s more on the closure – the season started on June 15 and the results haven’t been good – from KTOO via CoastAlaska:

“The poundage landed in the first week of the fishery was about 433,000 pounds, which was half, actually, not quite half of what was landed in the first week the last summer season, 2021,” Stratman said.

Because of the slow start, it was announced on June 29 that the season would close two weeks early, at the end of July.

The state manages the fishery according to harvests and sampling in-season only. There is no other data gathered throughout the year. Managers look at what the first week of the fishery was like and predict the overall season harvest estimate and decide how long the season should be.

It’s only the third time in the last 20 years that the season has been shortened — 2013 and 2017 saw early closures, too.