Petersburg Pilot -

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has closed the commercial red and blue king crab fishery for the 2023-2024 season, the sixth year in a row, citing stock survey numbers that remain well below the regulatory threshold.

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/tanner crab biologist for ADFG.

While that’s an improvement from last year, where the survey estimated 95,000 pounds, improvement does not mean they are a harvestable si...