Fishermen heading out tomorrow for the opening of the Bristol Bay red king crab season may not do it again for a few years.  The quota was cut by 47 percent this year, down to 7.8 million pounds.  And some crabbers, like Dewey Hostetler of the Bering Star, are already anticipating the fishery could be closed next season. 

“After seeing the reduction this year over last and seeing what the survey says, it’s a very realistic possibility that we don’t have one next year. For sure, that wouldn’t surprise me one bit. I’d be surprised if we did have one, personally.”

He’s talking about a federal trawl survey, which the Alaska Department of Fish and Game uses to set their harvest levels. The survey shows the population has shrunk over the past five years.   Hostetler wants the fishery to be managed conservatively.

“You know, you have to.  Or else it could be a total collapse of a stock.  And we’re here for the long haul.  Not just for today.”

Some of the survey results were positive though.  Crabber Lance Farr says that gives him hope for the future of the fishery.

“They found some small Red King Crab in Bristol Bay, which we hope will grow into mature males.  That’s the first small crab they’ve seen in the survey in about 3-4 years, so that’s a good sign.”

But while those crabs are maturing, fishermen like John Forsythe are shifting their attention elsewhere.

“We just go on about our business.  You know, there’s an upward trend in the opies.  Hopefully the market price stays up.  That’s always a danger when there is an upward trend because you flood the market with crab and price goes down.  But there are other fisheries.  Other things you can get into.”

Forty-five boats have registered to fish this year and another ten or fifteen will probably register in the next few weeks.  Sixty-eight boats participated last year.   

Red king gets the highest prices out of the crab fisheries.  Jake Jacobsen, executive director of ICE, the largest crabber cooperative, says they set their advance price this year at $7.40 per pound. Last year the final price was $7.50. This season’s final price could be a record-setting $10.  Jacobsen says a favorable exchange rate with the Yen and fewer Russian crab imports are driving up the price. 

 St. Matthew blue king crab also opens tomorrow.  The quota for that fishery doubled this year to 2.4 million pounds.  So far, only six boats have registered to fish for blue crab, but that number is expected to go up.

Bering Sea snow crab opens tomorrow as well, but the season won't begin in earnest until winter.  The Bering Sea tanner crab and Pribilof District red and blue king crab fisheries remain closed.