In Juneau, the shellfish rules just moved in opposite directions

Around July 1, the shellfish rules in the Juneau area pull two ways at once: king crab reopens, and shrimp stays shut.

The good news for residents is crab. Personal use red and blue king crab fishing reopens July 1 — for Alaska residents only, with a sport fishing license and the 2026/2027 Southeast regional personal use king crab permit. One catch: Section 11-A stays closed even after the reopening, and nonresidents are barred from king crab year-round. Tanner crab reopens the same day for everyone, resident and nonresident, after a two-week closure.

Shrimp is the other direction. Sport and personal use shrimping in Section 11-A and Tenakee Inlet stays closed with no reopening date — ADF&G is managing it by emergency order rather than the calendar, so it reopens when the department says so. Shrimping outside those two areas is still open.

There's a king salmon change in the mix too. From July 1 through September 30, the nonresident annual limit in Southeast marine waters doubles, from one king to two (28 inches or larger); the daily limit stays at one. Inside the Juneau Terminal Harvest Area, nonresidents can keep four kings of any size, and those don't count against the annual limit.

Permits are at the ADF&G online store. And residents waiting on Section 11-A crab should, in the words of area biologist Daniel Teske, "stay tuned for the Juneau area PU announcement later this year."