The Bristol Bay red king crab fishery has been cancelled for just the fourth time in its history, a huge blow to one of the most valuable crab harvests in the United States and to the Alaska seafood companies that harvest and trade the species.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced Friday that final trawl survey data for the Bristol Bay red king crab stock showed a biomass that was below the threshold for opening a fishery in the 2021-2022 season.