Gravina Island sea cucumber divers get two hours as the area's cap nearly runs out

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will open sea cucumber diving in 19 Southeast Alaska areas Monday and Tuesday, but divers will get just two hours off the West Shore of Gravina Island, where they have taken all but 5,600 pounds of the area's 81,900-pound cap in two weeks.

Gravina's window has shrunk each week, from seven hours Monday and two Tuesday at the Oct. 5 opener to five hours on Oct. 12. This week it's 8 am to 10 am Tuesday only, according to the department's Oct. 15 advisory. Zimovia Strait and Anita Bay open Monday only, with 19,600 of 63,000 pounds left.

Across Southeast, divers have landed 307,800 pounds, more than double the 139,600 a week earlier. That's about 22% of this season's 1,397,600-pound cap. Peril Strait has produced the most, 64,400 pounds. Seven areas, including Sitka Sound and Boca de Quadra, show no harvest yet.

The fishery is done by hand. Divers must hand-pick sea cucumbers, each permit holder is limited to 2,000 pounds per fishing period, and a ban on mixed-gas and saturation diving leaves deeper waters as a refuge, the department says. This season's cap is 18% smaller than last season's, Alaska News reported Oct. 9.

Last season, 142 divers landed 1,518,700 pounds, 11% short of that year's cap, worth about $4.4 million, or $2.87 a pound, according to the department's season summary.

This season runs through March 31, and the department can extend it to April 30 if harvest remains under area caps and there's a market.