"Blue King Crab"

The eastern Bering Sea bottom trawl survey has been conducted annually since 1975 by the Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service. The purpose of this survey is to collect data on the distribution and abundance of crab, groundfish, and other benthic resources in the eastern Bering Sea. These data are used to estimate population abundances for the management of commercially important species in the region. This document includes the time series of results from 1975 to the present. In 2017, 395 total stations (375 standard stations and 20 resampled stations in Bristol Bay) were sampled on the eastern Bering Sea shelf from 4 June to 15 August. In early June, colder bottom temperatures extended into Bristol Bay creating the need to resample 20 stations due to delaying effects of cold water temperature on red king crab reproductive cycle. There was an overall decrease in biomass and abundance in male red king and blue king crab and female red king crab. There was an overall increase in immature female blue king crab and a decrease in mature female biomass and abundance, with no mature female blue king crab being caught in the St. Matthew Island Section. There were overall increases in immature and legal male and immature and mature female biomass and abundance in Chionoecetes bairdi and C. opilio crab, and a decrease in mature male biomass and abundance in Chionoecetes bairdi and C. opilio crab.

The Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) crab fisheries managed under the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Fishery Management Plan (FMP) are currently prosecuted by an active fleet of 115 catcher vessels and two catcher processors, and landed and processed at 14 processing facilities throughout the region. Of the 10 crab stocks and 11 fisheries managed under the FMP1, eight fisheries are currently open to targeted fishing. The Bering Sea Tanner (BST) crab fisheries reopened for targeted fishing for the 2013/14 season 2 after being closed since the 2010/11 season. Pribilof Islands red and blue king, and Western Aleutian red king crab stocks are currently designated overfished, as detailed in the assessments for these stocks. The Saint Matthew blue king (SMB) crab fishery was closed for the 2013/14 season under the State of Alaska’s management strategy, and reopened for the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons.

The BSAI Crab Economic Status Report summarizes available economic information about the commercial crab fisheries managed under the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crab, with particular attention to the subset of fisheries included in the Crab Rationalization program. This report presents information on economic activity in commercial crab fisheries currently managed under the Federal Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Bering Sea and Aleutian and Islands King and Tanner Crab (BSAI crab), with attention to the subset of fisheries included in the Crab Rationalization (CR) Program. Statistics on harvesting and processing activity; effort; revenue; labor employment and compensation; operational costs; and quota ownership, usage and disposition among participants in the fisheries are provided. Additionally, this report provides a summary of BSAI crab‐related research being undertaken by the Economic and Social Sciences Research Program (ESSRP) at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC).

Environmental Assessment/ Regulatory Impact Review/ Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis of Amendment 94 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands requiring elevating devices on trawl sweeps.