MILLER: NORTH AMERICAN CRAB FISHERIES REGULATIONS 



crab traps can be distinguished and to prevent 

 king crab fishing in seasons for snow crab fishing 

 only. 



A second season in a year in the Kodiak area has 

 a larger minimum crab size than the primary 

 season. This encourages boats to fish areas where 

 catch per trap is lower than in more productive 

 areas but where large, old crabs have accumulated 

 because the areas have been underfished. 



A subsistence or sport limit of six crabs per day 

 limits waste that might result from higher 

 catches. 



Allocation of Landings Among Commercial Fishermen 



There are seven exclusive and two nonexclusive 

 registration areas. A boat may register before the 

 season opens to fish in only one exclusive area but 

 in either or both nonexclusive areas in addition. To 

 enforce this regulation and to prevent fishing 

 before the season opens, a boat must have its hold 

 inspected prior to fishing to verify that no king 

 crabs are on board. If a boat wishes to land its 

 catch outside its registration area, it must report 

 by radio to a designated authority the size of its 

 catch, and it may be required to submit to a hold 

 inspection before leaving its registration area. 

 The boat may at the time of landing have no more 

 or less king crabs on board than were present at 

 the time of reporting or inspection. To revalidate 

 its registration, a boat must be reinspected in its 

 registration area prior to resuming fishing. As the 

 exclusive areas are more accessible to harbors and 

 population centers, they are easier to fish than 

 nonexclusive areas. By limiting boats to one 

 exclusive area the larger, more mobile boats must 

 take part of their catch from more remote areas 

 less accessible to small boats. The small-boat 

 operations are economically viable because of their 

 versatility to participate in other fisheries, e.g., 

 salmon, halibut, and shrimp. A boat operator is 

 limited to operating only one boat in one exclusive 

 area although he may operate the same or addi- 

 tional boats in nonexclusive areas. This excludes 

 one-operator fleets from exclusive areas. 



Trap limits per boat in some areas favor small 

 boats because large boats cannot operate as eco- 

 nomically if their fishing power is restricted. 



Local boats are favored as an ancillary effect of 

 the second season mentioned above. The catch per 

 trap is lower and the weather less favorable than 

 in the primary season, and nonlocal boats are often 

 unwilling to fish for the lower returns. 



Stability of Landings 



Harvest levels are set to ensure that at least two 

 year-classes are well represented in any year's 

 landings. This helps dampen the effect on landings 

 of uneven annual recruitment to commercial size. 



Conflict Over Grounds or Resource 



Trap sanctuaries off limits to towed gear have 

 been negotiated with foreign groundfish trawlers. 

 Foreign trawlers have also agreed to area closures 

 and to use rollers on trawls to reduce the catch of 

 king crabs. Domestic shrimp trawlers and scallop 

 draggers are excluded from some prime king crab 

 grounds. 



Processing Economics 



Crabs are hard shelled much longer than the 

 time required for the fishery to take the annual 

 harvest levels. There is, however, a slight im- 

 provement in meat yield as the hard-shelled period 

 progresses with the best yield occurring in most 

 areas at times when the weather is unfavorable 

 for fishing. The season opening within the hard- 

 shelled period is a compromise between the re- 

 spective interests of fishermen and processors. 



Administration 



Boats are licensed and registered each year and 

 boats and crab-trap buoys must clearly display 

 registration numbers. Plants are obligated to 

 report area of catch, number of trap lifts, and 

 landings by boat. These regulations are necessary 

 to enforce fishing-area and harvest-level restric- 

 tions as well as to provide economic and biological 

 data on the fishery. 



Alaska Snow Crabs 

 {Chionoecetes bairdi, C. opilio) 



Although Chionoecetes bairdi, C. opilio, and C. 

 tanneri are all referred to as snow crabs, the 

 current domestic fishery consists of about 98% C. 

 bairdi and 2% C. opilio. Alaskan landings have 

 increased rapidly from 3 million pounds in 1968 to 

 61 million pounds in 1973. This fishery operates 

 from the Bering Sea to southeastern Alaska over a 

 depth range of 20 to 140 fathoms (Brown'-'). As in 



^Brown, R. B. The development of the Alaskan fishery for 

 tanner crab, Chionoecetes species, with particular reference to 

 the Kodiak area. Unpubl. manuscr., 15 p. Alaska Dep. Fish Game, 

 Kodiak. 



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