The season of brown king crab for 2010 is moving slowly and steadily forward with one area’s guideline harvest level reach. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game keeping a close watch on the other six. Fish and Game closed the East Central Area for brown crab in Frederick Sound on Feb. 20, expecting to exceed the 260,000-pound harvest level. Fish and Game Shellfish Management Project Leader Joe Stratman did express a concern.
According to Stratman in the East Central fishery there was a lot of the crab the permit holders were catching were a light crab, also called a soft-shelled crab. He told that the department would ask the fleet to consult with their buyers on their grading to make sure they are able to sell them all the crab that they retain.
AGS vice president Jim Erickson said that they are grading the crabs out. He added that in some cases they will buy some at reduced cost but it should be back in the ocean, it shouldn’t be taken out of the resource. Eric Rosvold, who was unloading crab in Auke Bay on Saturday, said the brown season seemed to be going well, though slow in the Juneau area. He said speculation about the fishery is best left to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
