Yakutat scallop fishery closes as harvest reaches 145,000-pound cap

The 2026/27 commercial weathervane scallop fishery in Registration Area D (Yakutat) closes at noon Wednesday, Aug. 26, as the fleet takes its 145,000-pound cap on shucked meat.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Division of Commercial Fisheries announced the closure Tuesday: "The guideline harvest level (GHL) of 145,000 lbs of shucked meat will be taken by the closure date and time." Emergency order EO 1M2626 carries it out under the Alaska Scallop Fishery Management Plan.

Yakutat's harvest level has held at 145,000 pounds across the 2023/24 through 2025/26 seasons. The statewide level stands at 374,700 pounds. Two vessels fished statewide in 2025/26, landing 317,085 pounds of shucked meats worth an estimated $5.1 million, according to the scallop stock assessment report reviewed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in June.

Outside Area H, the regulatory scallop season runs through Feb. 15. Joe Stratman, Region I shellfish biologist, is the department's contact.