By Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Prices are up and so is demand for Bering Sea red king crab, delighting Rob George of The Crab Broker, in more ways than one.

“Ten or 12 years ago I always said to myself 'I hope I can get people excited and enthused about fresh Alaska king crab in season, like they've done with Copper River salmon,'” George said in a telephone interview Nov. 7 from Las Vegas. “This is the first year it's getting there.”

Prices right now are the highest George has seen in his 16 years as a crab broker. As the biggest American buyer of Alaska red king crab, George said he buys tens of thousands of pounds a year, fresh and frozen, from Unisea Seafoods, a Dutch Harbor processor.

The season opened Oct. 15, and George's firm got its first shipment less than a week later, he said. “Japanese clients are paying a fairly good price for crab too,” he said. “Their yen is stronger than the American dollar, which gives them an advantage in buying.

“We don't even have prices on frozen yet, but we have done well on fresh. We are up 10 percent to 15 percent on sales,” George said. “That doesn't mean every customer is buying more. But we have a lot new customers than last year, because we have great product and great logistics to get the product to the marketplace on time.”

Industry officials predicted earlier this year that the market for red king crab would be stronger than a year ago because of the decline of illegal fishing activities in the Russian Far East. Much of that crab had gone to Russia, as well as domestic markets over the past year.

The allowable harvests of Bristol Bay red king crab for the 2008-09 season held steady at more than 20 million pounds, virtually the same as a year ago, but up from 15.5 million pounds in 2006.

Industry officials predicted earlier that the market for red king crab would be stronger than a year ago because of the decline of illegal fishing activities in the Russian Far East. Much of that crab had gone to Russia as well as domestic markets over the past year.

George gives much of the credit for his success to ACE Air Cargo, and Movers Inc., both with offices in Anchorage.

“ACE has done a tremendous job getting all of my crab out of Dutch Harbor to Anchorage on time,” he said. “They have been huge. They have done every little single thing I have asked for. That's the whole thing. You can produce good product, but if you can't get it out of Dutch Harbor, it doesn't work very good.

“Movers Inc. also does a great job getting the product labeling done and product transferred and out of Anchorage on time,” he said. “On time performance this year is running 98-99 percent.

“It's great for me; it is just outstanding. It has been an exciting, fun year,” said George, who spreads his enthusiasm for the crab industry with his annual tours of the crab industry at Dutch Harbor.

From Oct. 24 to Oct. 27, he hosted 35 chefs and buyers from upscale retail shops around the U.S., who came to watch the harvest in the Bering Sea and processing first hand.

And the best part for George is the continuous demand for fresh crab from upscale restaurants and retailers looking for exciting and unique seafood products.

“The economy's not fantastic,” he said. “I'm really amazed that sales have been so fantastic. There were days I thought it would have had an affect and other days I thought it wouldn't, but right now I could project this could be my biggest year ever.”

Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com">margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.