Two Southeast geoduck beds stay closed until biomass recovers past 30% threshold

Two Southeast Alaska geoduck beds that would normally have come up in this year's rotation will stay closed instead. Surveys this year found less than 30 percent of the clams originally estimated to be there, and under state regulation the beds stay shut until the population climbs back above that line rather than reopening with the next season.

The two are Saint Nicholas Channel and North Lulu Island, and Biorka Channel and Legma Island. In both, the department documented evidence that sea otters have been feeding on the geoducks.

What is left opens Oct. 1, with a Southeast harvest limit of 264,000 pounds across six areas. That is down from 443,600 pounds last season, a drop of about 40 percent. The first opening is planned for Oct. 7, depending on results from the weekly toxin screening that clears areas for fishing.

All the open areas passed inorganic arsenic testing, which keeps sales to mainland China available. The fishery also closes Nov. 20 through Dec. 1 and Dec. 18 through Jan. 12 for the holidays.

Fish and Game has used the same trigger recently. In August 2025 it closed Lower Cordova Bay and East San Fernando after surveys showed biomass below the same 30 percent mark, also citing otter predation.

Harvest periods in the Ketchikan area generally run 8 am to 4 pm Wednesday and Thursday, a schedule the department sets on the recommendation of the regional dive fisheries association. Divers must contact the department at least 48 hours before fishing a new management area.