Cat and Dog Islands geoduck beds open to divers Nov. 4-5 with a 400-pound limit

The Cat and Dog Islands geoduck area, in Felice Strait and Revillagigedo Channel, opens to commercial divers from 8 am to 4 pm Wednesday and Thursday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Monday. Divers have 13,000 pounds left to harvest, with a 400-pound limit per permit holder.

Under the Southeast Alaska Commercial Geoduck Fishery Announcement, no more than four geoduck permit holders may be on board, fish or make landings from a registered vessel, and no more than two may be in the water at the same time. Every geoduck harvested must be labeled with the date, the harvester's name and the location. Buyers must report the catch to the department's Ketchikan office by noon Friday, Nov. 6.

Those terms depart from how the fishery normally runs. Under the state's geoduck management plan, a permit holder can typically take up to 1,000 pounds a week, with no more than two divers fishing from one boat and three aboard. The plan lets the department allow up to four divers on a boat only when the weekly limit is 500 pounds or less.

The area began the season with 47,300 pounds, according to the 2026/27 Southeast Alaska Commercial Geoduck Fishery announcement, and first opened Oct. 21-22. The department's Oct. 26 announcement listed 17,000 pounds remaining before last week's opening.

Alaska News previously covered the 264,000-pound Southeast target for the season, which began Oct. 1. The department keeps harvest low because geoducks are long-lived and few young ones survive to join the population. The state plan sets the yearly harvest at 2% of the estimated biomass and requires each area to be surveyed every 12 years.

Openings generally run from October through May to avoid the summer spawning season. The fishery closes for Thanksgiving from Nov. 20 through Dec. 1.