Bering Sea Tanner crab limit nearly triples as snow crab falls 45 percent

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game set new harvest limits Tuesday for the Bering Sea's three major crab fisheries, using data from the 2026 federal trawl survey. Bering Sea crabbers may now catch up to 32.1 million pounds of Tanner crab this winter, about 2.9 times last season's limit. The snow crab limit drops 45%, to 5.1 million pounds. All three fisheries open at noon Oct. 15.

Bristol Bay red king crab rises about 27%, to 3.41 million pounds. Mature male Tanner crab biomass topped opening thresholds in both management areas, and red king crab mature female and effective spawning biomass cleared both thresholds. The department gave no other reason for the swings.

The Tanner limit is 27.2 million pounds west of 166 W and 4.9 million between 166 W and 163 W, up from 10.12 million and 1.13 million. That fishery closes March 31, 2027.

Last season's 9.3 million-pound snow crab limit included 1 million pounds added so boats could target hybrid crab. This year's limit carries no such allowance. Snow crab closes May 15, 2027, east of 173 W and May 31 west of it. During that fishery, boats may keep Tanner crab up to 5% of the snow crab aboard.

Red king crab closes Jan. 15, 2027. In every fishery, 10% of the harvest goes to Community Development Quota groups and 90% to individual quota holders.

Saint Matthew Island blue king crab stays closed. Survey and model estimates of mature males remain below the state threshold. Pribilof blue king crab, which the department said "has been declared overfished," also stays closed. Pribilof red king crab stays closed too, due to uncertain abundance estimates and bycatch risk to blue king crab. Pribilof waters remain closed to crab pots and to groundfish pots catching bait cod, to protect blue king crab.

In the Tanner fishery west of 165 W, crews may keep snow crab up to 100% of the Tanner crab aboard, up from 35% last season. Boats register at the Dutch Harbor office for one Bering Sea crab fishery at a time. Registration requires a Coast Guard safety decal, an active vessel monitoring system and 24 hours' notice to the Coast Guard. There is no crab pot limit.

The department will explain its calculations at a public virtual industry meeting at 9 am AKDT Wednesday, Oct. 7. Questions go to Mark Stichert, regional shellfish manager.