Tag: nortonsound

Harvest Mounts for Alaska’s Norton Sound King Crab Summer Fishery
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Harvest Mounts for Alaska’s Norton Sound King Crab Summer Fishery

Harvests are mounting for Norton Sound king crab summary fishery, with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game forecasting that entire guidelines harvest level of 308,623 pounds expected to be harvested this week. The Norton Sound king crab summer open access commercial fishery began on June 15. Eight permit holders for the 2022 winter commercial fishery harvested 7,357 pounds of the 27,328-pound guideline harvest level for the winter fishery. According to ADF&G biologists the average weight of the king crab caught in this fishery is about 2.8 pounds. The total Norton Sound red king crab guideline harvest level is 341,600 pounds, with 7.5% of that total reserved for the community development quota fishery. As of July 8, a total of 169,000 pounds of red king crab had been caugh...
Norton Sound King Crab Summer Access Fishery Opens June 15
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Norton Sound King Crab Summer Access Fishery Opens June 15

A summer open access commercial fishery for Norton Sound king crab opens in mid-June in Nome, Alaska, but a major purchaser, Nome-based Norton Sound Seafood Products -- a subsidiary of Norton Sound Economic Development Corp. -- said it may not begin buying until early July. Until there are buyers, crab permit holders were on their own to be director-marketers or catch-sellers of their harvest. Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials announced May 23 that the fishery would open on June 15. At that time, no buyer had registered for the harvest. During the 2022 winter commercial fishery, eight permit holders harvested 7,357 pounds of red king crab. The guideline harvest level (GHL) for the winter commercial fishery was 27,328 pounds. A total Norton Sound red king crab GHL for t...
NSEDC to Resume Purchases of Norton Sound Red King Crab
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NSEDC to Resume Purchases of Norton Sound Red King Crab

Norton Sound Economic Development Corp. board members have voted to resume purchases of Norton Sound red king crab this summer. The decision comes after two years of decreased fishing pressure and the maturing of a new cohort of crab. The NSEDC board said data now indicates that crab populations have rebounded to a level that allows for responsible harvest. An Alaska Department of Fish and Game 2021 summer trawl survey, which provides essential data for establishing crab harvest guidelines, showed a significant pulse of legal sized male crab moving into the fishery and reports of productive winter subsistence fishing appears to support that finding. NSEDC Board Chairman Frank Katchatag said it had been very difficult to see their commercial harvesters sidelines for the last tw...