North Pacific council raises Tanner and Bristol Bay red king crab limits, keeps snow crab in rebuilding

Federal fishery managers on Friday raised the catch ceilings for Bering Sea Tanner crab and Bristol Bay red king crab for the coming season, while keeping snow crab under a rebuilding plan. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted 11-0.

The federal ceilings cap what the state can let crabbers take. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game had already set this season's catches: 32.1 million pounds of Tanner crab, including 27.2 million in the Western Bering Sea district; 3.41 million pounds of Bristol Bay red king crab, up from about 2.7 million last season; and 5.1 million pounds of snow crab, down 45% from last year.

Tanner crab are doing well. Survey and fishery data show a group of crab first seen in 2023 growing into larger sizes, with large increases in males, said Ian Stewart, co-chair of the council's Scientific and Statistical Committee. Neither Tanner nor Bristol Bay red king crab is overfished, he said.

Snow crab is not overfished either, but it's at about 75% of its target population, so it stays in rebuilding. Its regular stock assessment model hasn't been statistically stable for two years, so scientists again used a simpler backup model. They set the catch ceiling 40% below the overfishing limit, the same cushion as last year, rather than the 50% the council's crab plan team recommended.

The council also took up a newer problem: Tanner-snow crab hybrids. Last year's survey found unprecedented numbers of them, and they remained high this year, according to a presentation to the council. Nearly half of skippers reported seeing more hybrids than the season before. The council's motion encourages collaboration among researchers, managers, harvesters and processors to identify opportunities for increased hybrid harvest without harming either the snow crab or Tanner crab stock. The council member who made the motion said he hopes for a progress report from stakeholders in February.

Two smaller king crab stocks with no directed fishing, St. Matthew Island blue king crab and Western Aleutian Islands red king crab, got catch limits of 136 and 14 metric tons.

For the record, the council set these 2026-27 limits, as overfishing limit and acceptable biological catch:

• Tanner crab: 67.39 and 53.91 kilotons

• Bristol Bay red king crab: 7.13 and 5.70 kilotons

• Snow crab: 21.22 and 12.73 kilotons