Less is more this season for Bristol Bay red king crab. The fishery’s quota was cut in half, but the price has soared.
When the season opened 11 days ago, Jake Jacobsen, executive director of ICE, the largest crabber cooperative, was expecting the final price for red king to be around $10 per pound. That would have been a new record and almost $3 more than last year. Now Jacobsen says that estimate is low.
A third of the 7.8 million pound quota has already been harvested.
Last year crabbers were catching an average of 18 legal red kings per pot lift. This year’s preliminary number is 20.
The season doesn’t officially close until Jan. 15.
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