The tanner crab fishery that opened at Kodiak in mid-January is attracting some interest, with prices to fishermen reportedly much better in 2007 than a year ago.
Some of the opening prices to boats in Kodiak were about $1.75 a pound, approximately 25 cents higher than initial prices for opilio crab in the Bering Sea, said John Sackton, an industry expert and editor of www.seafood.com.
Ten years ago, tanner crab was a premium product in Japan, but since then it has been hardly available, Sackton said Jan. 18. The fisheries were closed at times by managers to rebuild stocks and to assure their sustainability when reopened.
The guideline harvest levels for tanner crab in the Kodiak area this year is set at 100,000 pounds for the northeast section and 700,000 pounds in the eastside section, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Kodiak. Last year the northeast section had a quota of 550,000 pounds, the eastside got 1.3 million pounds, southeast received 100,000 pounds and southwest was allocated 150,000 pounds.
The southeast and southwest sections of Kodiak were closed to commercial fisheries this year because stock surveys indicated they would not meet minimum thresholds to harvest.
The eastside fishery was expected to be completed in one week, and the northeast section was expected to close some time in February, although some areas of the northeast section closed Jan. 22, state fisheries officials said.
The much larger tanner crab fishery in the Bering Sea opened in mid-October, with initial prices at $1.50 a pound. Those prices, however, stand to be adjusted upward based on final sales, industry sources said. The eastern sector individual fishing quota fleet of the Bering Sea has a 2007 quota of nearly 1.7 million pounds of tanner crab. The western sector IFQ quota is 984,600 pounds, state fisheries officials said.
There are also small-boat tanner crab fisheries for 49,00 pounds in Unalaska Bay and 35,000 pounds in Akutan Bay, officials said.
Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.
