Red king crab brought nearly $11 a pound during the last opening in 2011. So, it’s not unheard of to bring in a hundred-dollar crab. The last fishery was worth nearly $1.9 million at the dock.

Southeast Alaska’s next commercial golden king crab and Tanner crab fisheries will open on Feb. 17. Recent Tanner crab stock surveys show less mature biomass compared to years prior.

According to the survey, the total combined estimate of mature male biomass for all crab stocks was 64,894 tons, an 11 percent increase from last year’s number.

The survey estimated 119,000 pounds of legal male red king crab are available for harvest, significantly below the 200,000 pounds required to open the commercial fishery, said Adam Messmer, lead ...

King crab has been declining for a while, ... "The biomass of crabs up there at St. Lawrence Island [northwest of mainland Alaska in the Bering Sea] didn't change much.

However, the red king crab fishery collapsed in the 1980s. Since 1983, ... He reflects, "When it comes to understanding crab biomass declines and how to recover populations, ...

The red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) was intentionally introduced into the Barents Sea several decades ago and has since established a significant population that is both ecologically ...