Fish and Game keeps Gambier Bay king crab fishery open 48 more hours, to Friday

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game on Wednesday extended the commercial red and blue king crab fishery in the Gambier Bay management area by 48 hours, moving the closure to 6 pm Friday, Nov. 6.

The area, all waters of statistical area 110-23, has a guideline harvest level of 8,687 pounds this season.

The department's Sept. 11 advisory opened Gambier Bay at 10 am Nov. 1 for 28 hours. A Nov. 2 advisory reopened it at 6 pm that day for 48 hours, through 6 pm Wednesday. The extension notice adds 48 more, for 124 scheduled hours in all against the 28 originally planned. Neither the reopening nor the extension gives a reason or a harvest figure.

Under state regulation, vessels may store pots in the water for five days after an area closes, as long as all bait is removed and the doors are secured fully open. All gear must be out of the Gambier Bay area by 6 pm Wednesday, Nov. 11.

This season's level is below last season's 9,948 pounds but larger than two seasons ago. Department task force slides say last season's Gambier Bay fishery opened for 24 hours, about half the level came out in that time and a second 24-hour fishery followed Nov. 4. Preliminary figures put that harvest at an estimated 9,905 pounds, or 100% of the level, taken by 18 permit holders.

In the 2024-2025 season, the department's stock assessment calculated Gambier Bay's commercial harvest level at 3,177 pounds, but the regional fishery stayed closed because the total fell below the 200,000-pound threshold needed to open. As Alaska News reported Sept. 2, this season's 213,076-pound regional opening is the fourth since 2006 and the second in a row.