Unalaska, AK – A new emergency order by the National Marine Fisheries Service might bring more crab to Unalaska's processing plants this year. About 600,000 pounds of golden king crab are required to be harvested and processed in the western Aleutians. In this case, Adak. The problem is there are no operational processing plants in Adak.

Adak Fisheries stopped processing last April then filed for bankruptcy in September. They were purchased by Adak Seafoods, a company basically run by the same person, Kjetil Solberg. Aleut Enterprise, the owner of the processing plant property, says that the old company's lease for the property expired and they will not extend the lease for the new company. Additionally, Adak Petroleum, which is also owned by the Aleut Corporation, will not sell Adak Seafoods any fuel. All three entities are currently tied up in legal battles and NMFS does not foresee any processing taking place on the island in the near future.

Though another company could send a floating processor to the region, industry representatives told the North Pacific Fishery Management Council that it would not be a wise move economically. Golden king crab prices are low and operating the floating processor for a long period of time would be too costly.

Therefore, the agency decided to issue an emergency order that allows the fishing fleet to deliver the crab to any other processor with Western golden king crab processing quota. That means bringing the catch to Unalaska.

Most of the 2.8 million pounds of eastern designated golden king crabs were caught last fall. This emergency order allows the two participating catcher vessels to catch the remainder of the harvest and deliver it before the season closes on May 15. It is only in effect for this season. The North Pacific Council voted 10 to 1 to request the emergency order during their December meeting, multiple months after the request was originally made.