ADFG has announced that District 11A will be closed to commercial and personal use red & blue king crab fishing in 2009. The personal use season generally opens on July 1st. The closure announcement is the result of their annual stock assessment survey for the Juneau area which was completed on June 10th. When they ran the numbers they came up with a health designation of “poor” and the resulting harvest rate of “zero.” The assessment revealed adult males at or near the long term average, but that young males and all females are at or near their lowest levels on record.Â
ADFG has also announced that the red and blue king personal use king crab fishery will not open on July 1st in the rest of Southeast Alaska region BUT MAY OPEN LATER. The Board of Fish did pass a proposal to allow ADFG to set the bag limit between zero and 6 crab where previously their only choice was zero or six. Unfortunately the regulations have not worked their way through the system and are not effective yet. ADFG may open the personal use season later in the year when the regulation is in effect and the remainder of the king crab surveys are conducted and analyzed.Â