The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) said it anticipates the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) to adopt a guideline harvest level for the Norton Sound winter red king crab fishery of 496,800 pounds, or 11.5 percent of the 4.32 million-pound legal male biomass.
"This level of commercial harvest allows a buffer of approximately 43,000 pounds ... to account for subsistence harvests and incidental mortality of non-target crab discards," said the ADF&G.
Bristol Bay red king crab quota saw a 15 percent cut this year to a total allowable catch (TAC) of 8.469