State keeps Pribilof red and blue king crab closed, bars pot gear near the islands

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Tuesday that the Pribilof District red and blue king crab fisheries will stay closed for the 2026/27 season, extending a shutdown that has lasted more than two decades for blue king crab. The department also closed a block of Bering Sea water around the islands to commercial king and Tanner crab pots, and to groundfish pots used to catch Pacific cod for bait during federal quota crab fisheries.

The state's Bering Sea Tanner crab fishery carries the same closure around the Pribilofs but will otherwise open at noon Oct. 15, with a total allowable catch of 32.1 million pounds.

Blue king crab abundance remains below the federal minimum stock size threshold, and the stock has been declared overfished, the department said, based on this year's federal trawl survey. Mature biomass falls short of state harvest thresholds. Red king crab stays closed because of uncertainty in this year's abundance estimate and what the department called a "high potential for blue king crab bycatch."

The directed blue king crab fishery has been closed since the 1999/2000 season, with a zero catch limit every year since, according to the 2026 stock assessment report. Pribilof red king crab has been closed since 1999.

The survey also showed some increases. Male biomass is the highest measured since 2015, and female biomass is the highest since 2003.

NOAA's stock-status assessment says the blue king crab population has not progressed toward rebuilding despite 27 years without a directed fishery and other conservation measures already in place.