Southeast Alaska red king crab fishery to open after stock levels exceed expectations

Southeast Alaska's commercial red king crab fishery will open Nov. 1 after stock assessments revealed the highest red crab populations in decades.

Last week, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced a regionwide guideline harvest level of 211,573 pounds for the 2025/2026 season, exceeding the 200,000-pound threshold required for a traditional competitive commercial fishery.

The biomass numbers and the available surplus for harvest, came as somewhat of a surprise to fishery managers fishermen who had been preparing for a different type of season under the new individual catch limits (IC...