Four Southeast shrimp pot districts reopen Oct. 1 with little quota left

Four Southeast Alaska shrimp pot districts reopen at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, including District 15-East, and anglers will find little quota waiting for them. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game said in July that District 15-East would not reopen this fall because of poor performance and a low guideline harvest level; the department's Sept. 14 announcement reversed that call, leaving less than 3,500 pounds of coonstripe shrimp on the books. District 5 has 9,700 pounds of spot shrimp remaining. District 16 has less than 12,000 pounds of spot and coonstripe shrimp left. District 4 has less than 20,000 pounds of spot shrimp remaining. District 15-Remainder and Sections 8-A/10-C, which the July notice flagged as possible reopenings, do not appear on this list.

The department set the openings under Emergency Order 1C2226. "Areas will

close when guideline harvest levels (GHLs) are expected to be reached or at the fall/winter season’s closure at 4:00 p.m.,

Sunday, February 28, 2027," the department said in its Sept. 14 advisory.

Anyone planning to fish must reregister for the fall/winter season at Southeast Alaska ADF&G offices. Weekly reporting for all catcher-processors and catcher-sellers begins Thursday, Oct. 8. Reporting, fish ticket and logbook rules follow the department's April 17 announcement for the 2026/2027 season. For the fleet, income and fishing opportunity hinge on those thin pounds; a district closes once the department expects its limit reached.

The department set a preseason regional guideline harvest level of 382,600 pounds of whole shrimp for 2026/27, down from 408,600 pounds the prior season. The department's GHL memo ties the reduction to recruitment failures and two decades of declining harvest. Reported harvest across all districts before the July 31 closures totaled 325,300 pounds.

Researchers have raised sustainability concerns about harvest limits in some areas. ADF&G's Southeast Shrimp Research Program says annually reviewed fixed-quota GHLs, targeted in-season, can protect sustained yield but may prove unsustainable in some areas. A 1999 paper by D. Woodby and colleagues found harvest rates near or above natural mortality in some Southeast inlets and concluded that earlier upper harvest limits were probably too high.