By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Alaska's restructured Bering Sea red king crab fishery, with an allowable harvest of 18.3 million pounds, is already rocking with talk of foul weather, slowed delivery and lower prices.

Reports garnered by one organization of crab vessel owners indicated prices to some fishermen were down a dollar a pound compared to last year at about $4; but Clyde Sterling, vice president of operations for Peter Pan Seafoods, said Oct. 25 that his company was paying $4.60 a pound, with possible revenue sharing.

"There's crab all over the grounds right now," Sterling said. "It shows you that the resource is very healthy."

Processors said the stormy weather that plagued the start of the fishery Oct. 15 should allow them to slow down, do a better job, and focus on more value-added products and specialty packaging.

For vessel captains with a harvest allocation, the so-called crab rationalization program offered for the first time the option of sitting out the worst of the storm, without threatened loss of crab to other fishermen.

"The weather has been lousy," said Joe Hougen, winter plant manager for Peter Pan Seafoods at King Cove. "We had hurricane winds here, winds blowing 50 to 60 miles an hour."

In those conditions, some harvesters chose not to fish, waiting in ports or secure areas until the weather calmed down.

Forrest Bowers, the state's area manager for shellfish at Dutch Harbor, said that 1.5 million pounds of the lucrative crab had been delivered by Oct. 25 to processors at Dutch Harbor, King Cove, Akutan and St. Paul. In earlier years, stormy weather conditions notwithstanding, the entire allowable catch might have been taken in six days and at the peril of some skippers and crews injured or lost in the icy waters of the Bering Sea.

Sinclair Wilt, plant manager for Alyeska Seafoods at Dutch Harbor, said some boats didn't leave the docks for the fishing grounds until three days after the season opened because of the bad weather. With crab rationalization in place, they don't have to, he said.

While weather slowed the processing, that was not necessarily a negative, Wilt said. "It's nice not to compress all the production into a five- to six-day period as in the past," he said. "We can slow it down and do a better job. We can take advantage of sending stuff out fresh-cooked to a different market niche."

Rocky Caldero, plant manager for Unisea Seafoods in Dutch Harbor, agreed with the benefits of slower-paced processing. "When you put crab in a box not in a hurry, you get a better production," he said.

Peter Pan Seafood's Sterling said the delay in getting the crab to processing plants was an issue. "There is some concern in Japanese markets that we won't get the crab to market in time to take advantage of holiday sales," he said.

Historically, a large percentage of the crab goes to Japan between now and the new year, he said. There is a basic holiday period in Japan that coincides with the United State's, a time period when people spend more money on things they might not buy in the ordinary course of the year, Sterling said.

It takes three weeks to a month from the time the crab reaches the processing plants to deliver it to wholesale markets in Japan, he said.

Slower delivery of crab will, however, allow Peter Pan to produce more value-added and specialty packs. "Our standard was a 40-pound box," Sterling said. "We are still doing mostly 40s, but trying 20 and 10 kilogram and even smaller.

Processors said it was too early to tell what prices would be, but Tom Casey, director of the Alaska Fisheries Conservation group, which represents 19 crab vessels, said most fishers were getting about $4 a pound, compared with $4.85 to $5 a pound during the opener last year.

"My major concern is the price," said Casey, who said his information was based on an informal survey of a few harvesters.

"They told me the majority are receiving $4 a pound up front, with an adjustment to come later, " Casey said. "Maybe it will all shake out, but when you have a 90-10 situation, this is what happens."

Casey was referring to a decision of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which obligated harvesters to deliver 90 percent of their harvest to designated processors, rather than negotiate with processors of their choice.

"The state of Alaska's wisdom in setting up a 90-10 cartel is now in question," said Casey, who opposed the introduction of processor shares. "Ninety percent of the catch has to be sold to the cartel, the processors who received shares, the eligible buyers designated by the state of Alaska."

The state of Alaska has six of the 11 votes on the regional council.

"The state's representatives sold their souls to the processors and the state fish taxes are based on the ex-vessel price. If the king crab price doesn't come back up to $5, the state has essentially shot itself in the foot by establishing the 90-10 cartel," he said.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner McKie Campbell, who represents the state on the council, defended the state's position. Campbell said any solution had to ensure the stability of all three sectors dependent upon the crab resource: harvesters, processors and Alaska's coastal communities. The solution also had to sustain the resource, increase the safety of harvesters, reduce bycatch, reduce overcapitalization and increase efficiencies, while encouraging voluntary industry cooperation and equity, he said.

"The goal of equity was addressed by inclusion of mandatory binding arbitration to resolve price disputes, use caps, and ensuring multiple processors and markets in each crab fishery," he said.

The program will receive regular review, he said.

Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaska

journal.com.