Lynn Canal Dungeness crabbers had a banner summer season, harvesting more than double the 10-year average with a record-high price.
“It’s been good. The price was amazing,” said local crabber Scott Lesh. “I keep hearing of more and more pots coming up here from out of town. Hopefully it stays good.”
Ten permit holders caught nearly 264,000 pounds of crab at $4.21 per pound generating a $1.1 million fishery for the Upper Lynn Canal. The 10-year average harvest for the area is 116,563 pounds. An average of nine crabbers fish the area waters for Dungeness crabs. Area crabbers caught 200,000 pounds last year.
Haines Packing owner Harry Rietze said Dungeness crab is considered a luxury seafood and is another product that saw higher prices this year.
“Prices all across the category went way up after COVID with more people eating at home and a lack of supply,” Rietze said.
Crabbers across Southeast had a good season harvesting a total of 3 million pounds between 205 permit holders, said Alaska Department of Fish and Game commercial fisheries biologist Joe Stratman. Waters around the Wrangell and Petersburg areas saw the largest summer harvest with 680,000 pounds harvested. The total value of the 2021 summer crab season across Southeast was $13 million.
Last year, the total harvest was 5.8 million pounds, the second highest summer harvest on record, but the price was low.
“Last year’s 2020 summer season, with its second highest harvest on record, was valued lower at $9.9 million and crabs were purchased for a much lower average price of $1.70 per pound,” Stratman said. “The previous 10-year average for summer season total value is $7.52 million and the previous ten-year average is $2.70 per pound.”
The previous 10-year average for the Southeast summer season harvest is 2.87 million pounds. Commercial crabbers can fish up to 300 pots depending on their permit. The summer season opened June 15 and closed Aug. 15. The fall season begins Oct. 1 and closes, for most of the region, on Nov. 30.