Tag Archives: Ethan Nichols
Crab pots ‘absolutely stuffed’ as Bering Sea Dungeness fishery breaks records
While many Bering Sea crab populations are in freefall, Dungeness crab is breaking records in regions that hardly used to see them. The North Peninsula District in the eastern Bering Sea opened as a commercial Dungeness fishery in the early ‘90s. In those early days, it was common for just one or two boats to fish there — many seasons, there were none. The numbers increased modestly over the ensuing decades — but that growth has recently become exponential. “The pots that we’re seeing coming out of this fishery are absolutely stuffed with crab,” said Ethan Nichols, who works for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “Like, you don’t even know how many crabs can fit in a pot.” >click to read< 20:43
Record-low quota caught as Bering Sea Tanner crab season wraps up
The fishing season has ended for Bering Sea Tanner crab. Crabbers caught the record-low quota of two million pounds just before the end of March. Seventeen vessels went out for tanner across the fishery’s east and west districts, said Ethan Nichols, the assistant area management biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Unalaska. “Some boats caught their quota in the fall. Some caught it in the spring,” said Nichols. “Overall, the fishery performance was pretty good. ”Vessels were targeting and retaining crabs that were smaller than the industry-preferred size of five inches, but still perfectly legal to retain,” said Nichols. “And that was somewhat to make up for the lack of snow crab coming out of the Bering Sea.” >click to read< 11:29
Snow crab up, king crab quota down in Bering Sea
It’s not much, but there is a red king crab season. And snow crab is up 45 percent, and Tanners are down slightly, but at least that one will go forward due to a revised harvest strategy.,, Nichols expects fewer boats fishing this year, with fishermen combining quotas onto one boat that otherwise would have been fished by two vessels, because of the harvest reduction leading to the efficiency move. At least there is a red king crab season, despite earlier fears of a complete cancelation, according to Unalaska Mayor Frank Kelty. >click to read<11:30
