ANCHORAGE (AP) — Alaska’s multimillion-dollar red king crab season opened Tuesday, but most of the participating boats remained at dock because federal managers who are supposed to set individual fishing quotas are among workers still furloughed in the government’s partial shutdown.

Only boats representing a tiny fraction of the total harvest will be heading out into the Bering Sea. For that community development program, quotas are assigned by the state, with only seven vessels signed up to fish as of Tuesday.

Crabbers in the much larger haul fear that a late opening of the Bristol B...