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The red king crab fishery is the most valuable single-species fishery in Norton Sound. Our goal is to maintain the current strength of the fishery to ensure its future viability. NSEDC has supported and supplemented the crab trawl surveys performed every three years by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). These surveys are used to set the harvest guidelines for red king crabs. The next survey will be done during the summer of 2011. NSEDC is also conducting work on a crab tagging study in eastern Norton Sound. As the timing of spring ice melt has changed over the last decade, the crab fishery has extended into eastern Norton Sound. There are several questions we would like the study to answer. Is the crab population of eastern Norton Sound a separate population? Is there significant movement of red king crab between the east and the west? Should red king crab in Norton Sound continue to be managed as a single stock? Tagging crabs gives us valuable information on movement and migration. The data collected will also supplement the management model used to derive the annual crab quota. We have also been working with biologists from ADF&G to secure funding for a more extensive study of Norton Sound red king crab. If funding is secured, field work could start as early as the summer of 2011. For more information contact:
Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation
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