Alaska residents can now harvest Dungeness crab for subsistence in parts of Cook Inlet. It’s the first time it’s been open in decades.
The last Dungy fisheries in the area closed in the early 1990s after crab numbers dropped and ocean conditions changed.
State officials approved the new subsistence season earlier this year after growing interest from residents in the region. Martin Schuster is the area manager for commercial groundfish and shellfish at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
“There were proposals at the most recent statewide board of fisheries meeting for miscellaneous shellfish, which took place in Anchorage to open up both a sport and a subsistence fishery. For Dungeness, the board decided to start with a subsistence fishery,” Schuster said.
The season opened today [07/01] and runs through the end of March. It is open only to Alaska residents and does not allow for commercial harvest.
Permits are required to take part in the fishery. Only male crabs at least six and a half inches wide may be kept. Each household can fish with one pot per person and no more than three pots per vessel. Fishers are required to report where they fished, how many pots they used and how many crabs they kept or released.
Schuster said the department hopes permit data will help fill gaps in research.
“We haven't had any department surveys for quite some time either, because we just do not have the funds to carry those out, regrettably. So we don't know a lot in recent years about the Dungeness population,” Schuster said.
He said fishers have caught Dungeness crab as bycatch in the Tanner crab sport fishery in Kachemak Bay, which helped support reopening the season.
The open area includes waters near Nanwalek, Port Graham, and the southern portion of Kachemak Bay, including around Seldovia. Harvest is allowed only within the designated state subsistence area outlined by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Maps are included with the permit and posted on the department’s website.
More information is available on Fish and Game’s website or by calling the Homer Fish and Game office (907) 235-819 or stopping by with questions.
