The History Of King Crab Fishing in Alaska
Japanese used tangle nets and small schooners to harvest King Crab from the Being Sea
Numerous attempts at harvesting King Crab in the Bering Sea were met with little success.
The Pacific Explorer worked the Bering Sea with a dozen Puget Sound draggers supplying crab. The techniques learned here set the stage for the next ten years of crabbing.
Fishermen began experimenting with pots (traps) similar to ones used in the Dungeness Can- cer magister crab fishery on the West Coast. The small, round pots of the Dungeness fishery were quickly swept away by Alaska's strong tidal currents. After a period of experimentation, crab fishermen developed a large rectangular pot that was resistant to the currents. The pots in use today are similar to those developed in the 1950s. Measuring six feet square and three feet high, they were constructed with a steel frame covered with mesh webbing, and weighed about 300 pounds. Today's pots range in size from five feet by five feet to ten feet by ten feet and weigh up to 800 pounds empty.
The former Soviet Union enters the fishery
Cannery switches to King Crab Operation
Harvest of red king crab in Dutch Harbor begins
U.S. arranges bilateral fishing agreements with Japan and U.S.S.R.
Columbia Ward Cannery Destroyed
Adak fishery peaks at 21 million pounds (9,525 metric tons)
Dutch Harbor harvest peaks at 33 million pounds (14,969 metric tons)
The crabber Madre Doloros sank off Bear Island off Uyak Bay in 1966. Bob Moody raised it in 1967. He tells how it was a challenge since 1) the bow was slammed into the mud and 2) it was 150 feet down and required extra time for diving and decompression. Finally, he used old canning retortes from the Shearwater Cannery as "balloons" to raise the vessel. The Madre Dolorosa went on to fish crab in Kodiak another 15 years.
A total volume of 159 million pounds of raw crab was harvested by the Alaskan fleet. It yielded almost 320,000 cases of canned crab meat and over 37 million pounds of frozen products with a total wholesale value listed by the State of Alaska at $44,458,000.
Pacific Fisherman hailed her as "the first U.S. vessel ever built specifically to fish for King crab." She was big for her day --- capable of carrying 100 pots and packing 12,000 live crab. The yellowing magazine copy tells us that she was equipped with the latest electronics including "a loran set which enables the skipper to establish his bearings electronically". An earlier article trumpeted another innovation, "An unusual feature of 'Peggy Jo' is the articulated hydraulic boom mounted in the middle of the main deck working area." Built at Martinolich Shipyard in Tacoma, the new vessel carried a 850 hp Caterpillar D-398 in her engine room.
U.S. replaces foreign fisheries
Foreign fisheries cease
The Magnuson Act followed passage of other laws dedicated to addressing the environmental damage incurred after decades of unfettered industrialization. These laws include the National Environmental Policy Act (1969), the Clean Air (1970) and Clean Water (1972) acts, and the Marine Mammal Protection (1972) and Endangered Species (1973) acts. Along with newly established agencies to implement them -- the Environmental Protection Agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Secretary of Commerce adopts and implements a Preliminary Fishery Management Plan for the foreign king and Tanner crab fisheries in the eastern Bering Sea, banning foreign fishing for king crab
Bristol Bay experiences all-time record landings, peaking at 129.9 million pounds (58,922 metric tons)
Commercial landings peak in Norton Sound at 3 million pounds (1,361 metric tons)
Fishery crashes, possibly due to overfishing, predation, and changing environmental conditions. The top four historical producing areas are completely closed to red king crab fishing for the first time. Red king crab populations have remained depressed statewide, except in Southeast Alaska, since 1983.
King crab fishing stocks drop almost sixty-fold – over-fishing and environmental changes identified as root causes. Warmer waters boosted the volumes of king crab predators (pollock and cod), causing the number of juvenile crabs to significantly decrease.
Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Act of 1988.
No fishery in Bristol Bay
Harvest rate for Bristol Bay crabs was reduced to 10% of the mature males to allow stock rebuilding
Pribilof Islands red king crab fishery closed
The ultimate saga of the sea. The show's success helps to bring a new found fame to the fishery.
Crab Rationalization Program implemented
250 boats land 14 million pounds of red king crab in four days
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