The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that the 2017/2018 commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Southeastern Alaska will be opening as scheduled at 8 a.m. on June 15.
Dungeness crab fishermen must register their vessels and applicable gear with the department. The holder of a valid 2017 Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission permit for Southeastern Alaska Dungeness crab must be onboard the vessel during fishing operations and the permit holder’s name must be listed on the vessel registration.
Buoy tags must be purchased prior to fishing, costing $1.25 each. Buoy tags purchased for the 2016/2017 season are still valid for the 2017/2018 season, but Dungeness crab fishermen must register their vessels with the department prior to fishing the 2017/2018 season. To obtain replacement tags, fishermen must report the unique number of the lost tag on a ‘Tag Replacement Affidavit’. These forms are available at all area offices along with replacement buoy tags.
Tenders must also register with ADFG prior to taking Dungeness crab onboard and may not have any applicable gear onboard or be used to harvest them. After the season is closed, all Dungeness crab pots must be removed from the water, except that pots may be stored on the grounds with all pot doors secured fully open and all bait and bait containers removed for no more than seven days after the fishery’s regionwide closure in Registration Area A, or for no more than 72 hours after a partial area closure. Reporting of lost pots, or pots left in a closed area in fishing condition, should be directed to the Alaska Wildlife Troopers (AWT) offices in Juneau or Ketchikan.
The department will use catch and effort information from the first week of fishing to predict total season harvest and will compare that prediction to regulatory thresholds described in the Southeastern Alaska Dungeness Crab Management Plan to determine season length. Fishermen should expect a news release by June 29 informing the fleet of the regionwide season length. The department will be conducting dockside sampling in all major ports and aerial surveys on the grounds to determine fleet distribution.
Fishermen are reminded that this is the third season with closed areas in Port Frederick near Hoonah and Favorite Bay near Angoon. District 16 will be open to commercial fishing for Dungeness crab during the 2017/2018 fishing season. Permit holders intending to fish in District 16 are asked to contact Joe Stratman at 772-5238 or Adam Messmer at 465-4853 at the start of fishing operations.
The Yakutat Area Dungeness crab fishery will remain closed. Waters of Glacier Bay are closed by federal regulation to commercial Dungeness crab fishing. Fishermen may contact the Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve at 697-2230 for more information. Closed waters within 3,000 feet of the Annette Island Reserve will be addressed in a separate news release issued in September prior to the start of the fall/winter fishing season.
For additional information and maps, consult the department’s full fishery announcement at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=cfnews.main.
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