Fall Alaska king crab harvest canceled (Metlakatla: tax, live in, restaurants)

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Only thing I know about fishing in the sea up there is that it's grueling and dangerous, but people in Seattle will go up for 3 or so months and come back with a decent chunk of change.

Those companies up there...can they fish for something else, or is crabbing it for them?

I am not affected either way - I don't eat seafood - just curious.

Also, this comment should be sent to a whole lot of companies and the general public:

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

...You mean they're quitting crappy little public-facing minimum wage jobs with no benefits that they can't even make rent on unless they work two or three of them. Good. The current unemployment rate is 3.9%; they aren't "abandoning" their jobs so much as moving on to greener pastures...

And here. I agree with this guy; the world has changed, and I don't think anyone can be blamed for not wanting to work with the public anymore:

https://afarmishkindoflife.com/nobody-wants-to-work/

The restaurant industry in particular deserves to "slow to a crawl" after their long, shameful history of treating workers like expendable garbage and allowing their customers to do the same.

...

100%.

[Northrick]

Originally Posted by Three Wolves In Snow

Only thing I know about fishing in the sea up there is that it's grueling and dangerous, but people in Seattle will go up for 3 or so months and come back with a decent chunk of change.

Those companies up there...can they fish for something else, or is crabbing it for them?

I am not affected either way - I don't eat seafood - just curious.

Most fisheries now have a permit system. You need to own a permit in order to fish in that particular fishery. I bet most of the boats that fish Bering Sea crab have some other permits, but crab is the money maker and pays most of the bills.

Plus, crab is a pot fishery. The boats are set up to drop and retrieve pots. They can't just start long-lining or trawling easily.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by Northrick

I bet most of the boats that fish Bering Sea crab have some other permits, but crab is the money maker and pays most of the bills.

Yeah, no. Can't afford to run those boats for groundfish. Some of the independent crab guys contract out to Trident and whoever as salmon tenders.

Deadliest Catch's Aleutian Ballad is a tour boat now.

Ran across this morning if anyone's interested:


https://www.nationalfisherman.com/al...survey-results

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by Three Wolves In Snow

Only thing I know about fishing in the sea up there is that it's grueling and dangerous, but people in Seattle will go up for 3 or so months and come back with a decent chunk of change.

Those companies up there...can they fish for something else, or is crabbing it for them?

.

The largest fishery in the Bering Sea is the pollock fishery, but it's a low-market product (think Fish Fillet sandwiches at McWherever) that needs to be mass-produced to make any money, which means huge factory processors where the fish are processed by an onboard crew. That's the kind of thing where people contract for three months or so. They aren't paid all that well but are able to make a lot in OT, and there don't have anywhere to spend it while up there.

Crab boats are too small and specialized for this work. An independent crab guy would be underwater in fuel costs alone fishing for pollock. Edit: it's my understanding that some also engage in sablefish (black cod) pot fishing, but that's a money fish that brings a pretty high price, especially in the Asian market.

[Northrick]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Yeah, no. Can't afford to run those boats for groundfish. Some of the independent crab guys contract out to Trident and whoever as salmon tenders.

Deadliest Catch's Aleutian Ballad is a tour boat now.

I guess I was thinking some of the other crab fisheries. However, reading the article you link to sounds the closures were pretty wide spread. Sounds like the only thing left in the Bering is a 2 million pound tanner crab fishery. There is also a Kodiak tanner fishery but doesn't sound too big either.




However, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that a big part of the decline has to be those bottom trawlers. Besides by catch, they have to be destroying the ocean bottom and making it hard for crab to thrive.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by Northrick

I guess I was thinking some of the other crab fisheries. However, reading the article you link to sounds the closures were pretty wide spread. Sounds like the only thing left in the Bering is a 2 million pound tanner crab fishery. There is also a Kodiak tanner fishery but doesn't sound too big either.




However, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that a big part of the decline has to be those bottom trawlers. Besides by catch, they have to be destroying the ocean bottom and making it hard for crab to thrive.

One of the bigger factors in crab decline is warmer water temperatures, according to the Marine Fisheries Service.

I don't think crabs are too picky about the bottom. Sand, mud, they don't care as long as it has food. The crabs move around in giant schools of millions. The successful crab fisherman mange to keep putting their crab pots along the line of travel of the schools. NOAA site with picture of a king crab pod https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/featu...ing-crabs-rule

This page has a video of a school of king crabs https://www.brut.media/us/nature/the...0-1914b164acd2

[legalsea]

Originally Posted by Chilkoot

The red king crab season as well as snow crab season have been canceled for 2022.


https://www.usnews.com/news/best-sta...asons-canceled


https://www.intrafish.com/fisheries/...ow/2-1-1332388

This is appalling. It is now estimated that in 2018 there were 8 billion snow crabs in 2018, now 1 billion in 2021.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/16/us/al...ate/index.html

Holy cow, I do feel for those that made their living off harvesting snow crabs.

[jjbradleynyc]

This is devastating news for the crabbing industry, as well as the crab population in general.

Our species has drained the earth dry of resources for centuries, and with a massive global population in 2022, the earth is starting to feel the stress and is not able to keep up.

As career destroying as this move is for many involved, it is a necessary move to keep crabs alive for future populations and generations.

[Scooby Snacks]

Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc

This is devastating news for the crabbing industry, as well as the crab population in general.

Our species has drained the earth dry of resources for centuries, and with a massive global population in 2022, the earth is starting to feel the stress and is not able to keep up.

As career destroying as this move is for many involved, it is a necessary move to keep crabs alive for future populations and generations.

This. People moaning about the livelihood of crab fishermen are being shortsighted. The state of Alaska is protecting the well being of crabs and the fishermen long term. I went to Dutch Harbor early 2022 for a work trip and it was very quiet out there without crab boat operations. But there is plenty of other fishing to be had, and Alaska has tons of other jobs in travel and tourism, healthcare, oil, manufacturing, etc. . . Shortstaffing is as bad up there as everywhere else.

[Metlakatla]

Most of those making money off Alaska crab (or groundfish), for that matter) are not Alaska residents.

King crab is overfished. Quotas have been too high for decades, and they continued to allow boats to sell their quotas to other boats...shouldn't have done that.

Snow crab populations decreased so quickly that trying to blame it on overfishing is...convenient, I guess, but not realistic. They've likely moved farther north.

It's also not all that easy to just go fish for something else. Like I already said, a crab boat going for groundfish is going to pay more in fuel than they'll earn from their catch. And then there's a matter of permits and other red tape. You can't just decide that your boat that was specifically built and designed for Bering Sea crabbing is now a salmon seiner.