Commercial fishing for Tanner Crab in the Kodiak district opens Jan. 15, unless delayed by weather, with a 500,000-pound guideline harvest level on the eastside section and 115,000 pounds in the southeast section.
The northeast, southwest, westside, north mainland, south mainland and Semidi Island overlap sections will remain closed for this season.
Fisheries in the eastside and southeast sections will be monitored in-season and section or subsection closures may occur before GHLs are fully harvested, based on fishery performance and harvest distribution.
Since the Kodiak district GHL is less than 2 million pounds, the regulatory gear limit is 20 pots per vessel. Additional information regarding buoy tags, registration, weather delays, in-season catch reporting and fishery management actions will be provided in subsequent news releases prior to the season opening.
For the Chignik and South Peninsula districts, a single mature male abundance threshold was established. Abundance must be sufficient to provide for a minimum GHL of 200,000 pounds before a commercial Tanner crab fishery may occur here, so these districts will remain closed for the 2019 commercial Tanner crab season.
