The 2017–2018 commercial Tanner crab fishery in Southeast Alaska is set to open concurrently with the commercial golden king crab fishery at noon on February 10.
Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) say the length of the season will be determined by guidelines set forth in the Registration Area A Tanner crab harvest strategy.
The initial fishing period for Tanner crab in the core areas and non-core areas will be a minimum of six days, with additional fishing time based on the number of registered pots at the start of the fishery.
ADF&G plans to issue a news release on February 10 announcing the total number of pots registered in the fishery for the 2017-2018 season and whether the initial fishing period will be extended. After the initial period, the core area will close to fishing and the non-core areas will remain open for another five days.
Catch survey modeling of 2017-2018 commercial fishery harvest, October 2017 Tanner crab survey data, and summer 2017 red king crab survey data produced a regional biomass estimate 35 percent greater than the previous year.
State biologists said that limited, non-confidential Tanner crab stock assessment information is to be made available to the public in early January.
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