Kachemak Bay

Subsistence, personal use, and sport fisheries for Tanner crab will open on July 15 in the waters of Kachemak Bay east of a line between Anchor Point and Point Pogibshi. Department surveys estimate the abundance of legal sized male Tanner crab has met the minimum criteria for opening the fishery under the management plan adopted by the Alaska Board of Fisheries in 2002.

A permit is required prior to harvesting Tanner crab in these noncommercial fisheries. Permits are free and should be available by mid-June at ADF&G offices in Anchorage, Soldotna, and Homer. The permit must be in possession of the person fishing for Tanner crab and harvest information must be entered on the permit before leaving the fishing grounds. The permit must be returned to the department at the end of the season.

The methods, means and bag limits are identical for all three fisheries, although fishing under subsistence regulations is limited to waters near Seldovia (see department web site for a map of the area: http://www.cf.adfg.state.ak.us/region2/rgn2home.php). The fishery season dates are July 15 – December 31 and January 15 – March 15. Gear is limited to two pots per person with no more than two pots per vessel. Each pot must have two escape rings with an inside diameter of 4 3/8 inches, meet the biodegradable escape mechanism requirements (5 AAC 39.145), and may not have any line floating on the surface except that portion connecting the main buoy to a trailer buoy. Bag and possession limits are five legal sized (5 ½ inches or greater in carapace width) male Tanner crab per person and per day.

Other Areas

The results of the department’s May, 2008 Kamishak Bay/Barren Islands survey will determine whether noncommercial Tanner crab fishing will occur in those waters west of the line between Anchor Point and Point Pogibshi, including Cook Inlet and the North Gulf District. If the estimated abundance of legal males is above the minimum fishery threshold, a noncommercial Tanner crab fishery will be prosecuted in these waters beginning July 15. The fishery will not open if the estimated abundance of legal males from the trawl survey is below the minimum fishery threshold. A separate news release will announce the survey results and provide information on the fishery.

For more information contact Charlie Trowbridge in the Division of Commercial Fisheries Homer Area Office at 907-235-8191, or Nicole Szarzi in the Division of Sport Fish Homer Area Office at 907-235-1739.

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For additional information contact Nicole Szarzi, Area Management Biologist, (907) 235-1739.