Pins matching company:"Alaska Department of Fish and Game"

Alaska kept the Bering Sea snow crab fishery closed for the 2022-23 season after survey numbers fell below the threshold to open it, the first closure in the fishery's history, and shut Bristol Bay red king crab for a second straight year.

The Bristol Bay red king crab fishery reopened at noon on 15 October 2023 with a 2.15-million-pound catch limit after two years shut, while Bering Sea snow crab stayed closed for a second season.

The Bering Sea snow crab fishery reopened at noon on 15 October 2024 with a 4.72-million-pound catch limit, its first season since the stock collapsed and the fishery was shut in 2022.

Alaska nearly doubled the Bering Sea snow crab catch limit to 9.3 million pounds for the season opening 15 October 2025, adding 1 million pounds aimed at an unprecedented abundance of snow-Tanner hybrid crab.

Alaska forecast a 2026 Bristol Bay sockeye run of 45.32 million fish, a 'strong' year by its own scale, with a harvest of about 32.3 million fish in the bay.

Alaska's final tally put the 2026 Bristol Bay sockeye run at 45.7 million fish and the catch at 30.1 million, the first run under 50 million since 2014, though the salmon were worth $264.0 million to fishermen.

Alaska's Bering Sea snow crab and Bristol Bay red king crab fisheries are due to open at noon on 15 October 2026, with catch limits set in early October after the summer trawl survey.

Alaska's forecast for the 2027 Bristol Bay sockeye run, the number the fleet and processors plan the next season around, is due in November after a 2026 run of 45.7 million fish.