Southeastern Alaska Summer Dungeness Crab Season One of the Best on Record
- ADF&G Press Release

Cora Campbell, Commissioner
P.O. Box 115526
Juneau, Alaska 99811
Phone: (907) 465-6166 - Fax: (907) 465-2332

Press Release: August 14, 2014

Contact: Joseph Stratman, Lead Crab Biologist, (907) 772-5238

Southeastern Alaska Summer Dungeness Crab Season One of the Best on Record

(Juneau) — The Southeastern Alaska summer commercial Dungeness crab season closes August 15, and it was among the most successful in recent history. While the information is still preliminary, total summer season harvest is likely to be around 4-million pounds which is the largest summer season harvest since 2002 and is a 142% increase from the 2013 summer season catch. Crab fishermen also benefited from a relatively high exvessel price of around $3 per pound. Strong prices and catch yielded a total fishery value of around $11-million making the summer 2014 season one of the most lucrative in history. The fall season will open October 1 in most of Southeastern Alaska and if historic harvest trends hold true, crabbers will likely harvest around 1-million additional pounds before the fall season closes in most areas at the end of November.

The Southeastern Alaska Dungeness crab resource supports the largest and most valuable commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Alaska and provides an important source of income for commercial fishermen as well as abundant sport, personal use, and subsistence fishing opportunities.