Alaska Crab Fishery Faces Federal Shutdown Delays

By Margaret Bauman

Alaska’s multi-million dollar commercial crab fishing season faces delays if a federal government shutdown is not resolved soon, because National Marine Fisheries Service biologists won’t be able to issue individual fishing and processing quotas.

The fisheries are set to open on Oct. 15.

The announcement today came from Heather Fitch, area management biologist for the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands at Dutch Harbor for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.  Fitch said that state biologists have completed their analysis of NMFS trawl survey data for Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea tanner crab, and that the state will issue community development quota permits for Western Alaska fisheries groups.

But due to the shutdown of the federal government, NMFS has announced that issuance of individual fishing quotas and individual processing quotas may be delayed.  The biologists who do that work are currently furloughed.

Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, noted in a speech on the Senate floor Oct. 4 that the Bering Sea crab fishery, worth $80 million annually, could be drastically affected by this shutdown because of the furloughed biologists.

“I supposed some people would call them non-essential ‘pencil pushers’,” Begich said. 
“These permits take hours to process. The paperwork trail is important so we know it’s not illegal crab caught by fish pirates on the other side of the Bering Sea.

“The paperwork trail helps Americans know the crab we’re eating is safe.”

Figures released on Oct. 4 by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game dictate for the Bristol Bay red king crab season an individual fishing quota of 7,740,000 pounds and a community development quota of 860,000 pounds, for a total of 8.6 million pounds.

For the eastern Bering Sea tanner crab fishery, the individual fishing quota is 1,316,700 pounds and the community development quota is 146,300 pounds, for a total of 1,463,000 pounds of tanner crab.  For the western sector, the individual fishing quota is 1,480,500 pounds and the community development quota is 164,500 pounds, for a total of 1,645,000 pounds.