Golden king crab season is officially open in the Aleutian Islands.

About five vessels had signed up to participate as of the season’s start last Friday. More than six million pounds of golden king crab is available to catch.

That amount is set in federal state regulations and divided up among the fleet and community development quota groups.

Melissa Good is a biologist with the Department of Fish & Game. She says three boats are fishing for goldens in the Eastern Aleutians, and two boats in the Western Aleutians. The fleet uses deep-water, longline pots that they can leave to soak for long periods.

Good says the Eastern Aleutians fleet gets a slightly larger share of the total quota -- around 3.3 million pounds -- but they also usually hit that limit sooner, by around December. She says the Western group tends to work into the spring, since they have to travel further to their fishing grounds.

The fishery will run into May for the last time this year. Next year, Good says the fishery will open and close two weeks earlier, to try and give vessels more fishing time in better weather.

The Aleutians won't be the only place to find golden king crab in the coming months. Good says the Pribilof Island goldens fishery has 250,000 150,000 pounds of crab up for harvest. One vessel is signed up to participate. The one vessel signed up to fish that area has already finished their season.

This story has been updated to correct several factual errors.