Nearly 200 vessels stand down as crab price negotiations continue

This post was updated Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023.

Kodiak’s Tanner crab fleet is continuing to stand down, saying they still haven’t come to an agreement with local processors on price. 

Nat Nichols is an area management biologist with the state’s Department of Fish and Game; he said via email Tuesday that 193 vessels – including 128 from Kodiak, 14 in Chignik, and 51 from the South Peninsula – are registered for this season’s Tanner Crab fishery, and to the department’s knowledge, none of them have set their gear.

Nichols said the department hasn’t received any harvest reports from vessels. He also said there haven’t been any landings of Tanner crab since the season began this past Sunday, Jan. 15. 

Permit holders for Kodiak’s Tanner crab fishery met Friday night and voted to continue negotiations with canneries in Kodiak – and out the Aleutian Chain. The group is set to meet again on Sunday – the soonest the fleet would go fishing is Tuesday, Jan. 22, a week after the scheduled opener.