Fish and Game closes two sea cucumber beds, raises weekly dive limit to 2,500 pounds

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed two Southeast sea cucumber beds, the West Shore of Gravina Island and Zimovia Strait and Anita Bay, for the rest of the 2026/27 season in an Oct. 22 announcement. In the same order, the department raised the weekly harvest limit across the Southeast region to 2,500 pounds. The season announcement had limited each permit holder to 2,000 pounds per fishing period.

The closures follow an Oct. 17 report that the department was giving divers two hours on the Gravina bed, which then had 5,600 pounds left of its 81,900-pound guideline harvest level. A guideline harvest level is the poundage the department sets for each area. It keeps announcing weekly openings there until that level is reached or the season ends March 31, 2027. A 2025 Board of Fisheries change lets the department extend the season to April 30 by emergency order.

The department's harvest table, released with the order, shows where the two beds stood. Zimovia Strait and Anita Bay, in District 7, produced 63,700 pounds against a 63,000-pound guideline harvest level, about 700 pounds over. Gravina's west shore, in District 1, did not go over: divers had taken 80,700 of its 81,900 pounds, leaving about 1,200 pounds unharvested when the department closed it.

The fishery opened Oct. 5 with a 1,397,600-pound guideline harvest level, down from 1,706,100 pounds last season, according to the department's 2026/27 season announcement. Last season, which closed by emergency order on April 29, the department reported a total harvest of 1,518,700 pounds, 11% below that guideline, landed by 142 divers across 1,122 landings worth about $4.4 million.

The higher limit applied to the openings that followed. Subdistricts in Districts 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 11, 12 and 13 opened from 8 am to 3 pm Monday and 8 am to noon Tuesday. Stikine Strait and Chichagof Passage in District 8 got only the Tuesday morning window. Going in, divers had landed 449,400 pounds regionwide, with 948,200 pounds uncaught.

Six areas, including Boca de Quadra and Southeast Baranof, showed no harvest at all. Moira Sound still had 140,500 pounds of its 158,700-pound level left, the most of any area. Harvest figures for Sitka Sound and Northern Chatham Strait are confidential.

The next advisory, setting the coming week's openings, is due Thursday, Oct. 29.