JUNEAU, Alaska – Alaska has cancelled the fall Bristol Bay red king crab harvest, and for the first time, has also scrapped the winter harvest of smaller snow crab.
The move is a double whammy for crab fishing fleets from Washington, Oregon and Alaska.
The Seattle Times reports the closures follow bleak summer population surveys of both species.
Snow crab populations declined after a 2019 Bering Sea warming that scrambled the broader marine ecosystem.
Last year’s snow crab harvest was the smallest in over 40 years.