Wrangell declares local disaster over Dungeness crab decline

More than 60 commercial Dungeness crab permit holders in Wrangell face shortened seasons and reduced landings. The City and Borough of Wrangell Assembly says the decline has strained fishermen, families and businesses across the community. The Assembly adopted Resolution No. 08-26-2071 on Aug. 25 under Alaska Statute 26.23.140, declaring a local disaster emergency over the Southeast Alaska Dungeness crab decline. It asked Gov. Mike Dunleavy to support a federal Fishery Resource Disaster Determination for the 2026-27 Southeast Dungeness crab fishery.

The resolution documents a harvest of about 2.07 million pounds in the combined 2025-26 summer and fall seasons, against a stated five-year average of roughly 3.6 million pounds. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game projected the 2026-27 harvest at between 1.5 million and 2.25 million pounds. ADF&G's own announcement said that total would land near the upper end of that range, a framing that differs from how the borough's resolution characterizes the shortfall.

That projection shortened the season. The department closed the summer commercial fishery in Registration Area A at 11:59 p.m. on July 25 after 40 days, a three-week reduction from the maximum allowed, under emergency order EO 1C5426. Alaska News reported that closure was tied to a 25-year-low harvest. The borough acted a month later. The fall season is set for 30 days, opening at 8 a.m. Oct. 1 and closing Oct. 31.

The department frames those reductions as management, not collapse. Its advisory announcements set season length under the Southeastern Alaska Dungeness Crab Fisheries Management Plan, 5 AAC 32.146, using harvest projections against regulatory thresholds rather than a disaster finding. A separate emergency order, EO 1C0800, keeps the Yakutat Dungeness fishery in Registration Area D closed for 2026-27, as it has been since 2000.

The Southeast Dungeness fishery has averaged $11.2 million in ex-vessel value from the 2019/20 through 2023/24 seasons, a baseline against which this season's shortfall registers for the fleet.

A federal determination would establish eligibility for assistance "subject to federal appropriations and an approved spending plan," the borough said in a Sept. 3 press release. Alaska News has previously covered the wait involved. About $99 million in national fishery disaster aid reached Alaska for snow crab and salmon failures, with 13 more requests still unfunded.

Wrangell's specific economic impacts remain documented only by the borough's resolution and press release.