Researchers are scrambling to understand crabs' collapse, with seas warmed by climate change as one theory. Preliminary data from this year's survey suggest another year of closed or severely limited fisheries, with decisions on crab catch limits expected in early October shortly before the season traditionally opens.
Kevin Abena, who runs a fishing business with his father, also relies on tendering to stay afloat in the wake of the crab fishery closure. His vessel Big Blue, which his father built in the late 1970s, stopped fishing for most crab in Bristol Bay in 2010, but they still own access rights and take a percentage from other boats that fish their quota. Abena also fishes for halibut and black cod.
When fisheries get closed"you displace a lot of boats and a lot of crew," he said."It makes people start hunting for more opportunity." Researchers this year brought samples of crab back to Kodiak for further analysis, exploring how snow crabs respond to stress in their environment, including rising heat.
Researchers and managers have started examining data from this year's survey. It will help determine what crab fisheries might open this winter and decisions on each kind of crab are expected some time in early October. After last year's closures the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, a nonprofit trade association that Prout leads, petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to close fishing of all types for 180 days in an eastern part of the Bering Sea in an effort to protect the red king crab there. That request was denied in late January.
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