Southeast's Dungeness fleet gets a 30-day fall season after a short summer

Southeast Alaska's Dungeness crab fleet gets a 30-day fall season this year, Oct. 1 through Oct. 31, after a summer season that closed early.

Regulations would otherwise allow fishing through Nov. 30 in most of the region, and through Feb. 28 in Districts 1 and 2. The summer season closed July 25 after 40 days, three weeks short of its maximum, with a projected harvest of 1.5 million to 2.25 million pounds. The state set the fall length under its management plan after the summer harvest fell short of a 2.25 million-pound threshold.

Managers set the season based on what the fleet brings in, because there's no independent survey of Southeast Dungeness stocks. The fishery averaged about $11 million a year at the dock from 2019 through 2024.

On Aug. 25, the Wrangell Assembly declared a local disaster and asked Gov. Mike Dunleavy to seek a federal fishery disaster determination for the town's more than 60 permit holders.