Unalaska, AK – The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has released its assessment for Bristol Bay red king crab, and the report finds that the crab stock may be declining.

Over the past three years, recruitment rates have been "extremely low." Male crabs -- which are the only crabs that can be legally caught -- have become less abundant, and fewer young crabs are reaching maturity. Jie Zheng is a crab biometrician for ADFG, and he coauthored the report along with Shareef Siddeek. He says that the near future doesn't look great for red king crab.

"The important thing there is that the stocks are going down," he says.

Last year's quota was 21 percent lower than the 2008 quota, and this year may be even lower since red king crab biomass is down 7 percent. So far, it's unclear what's causing this decline.

"That's something that we cannot know exactly what the reason is," says Zheng. "Something's happening out there that we don't understand."

Quotas will be set by the end of the month, and the fishery will open October 15.